Day 2742 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Romans 15:13 NIV
Psalm 37:4 reminds us to, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 105:4 says to, "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." Philippians 4:4 makes it pretty simple in saying to, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" You know why Scripture tells us so many times in so many places across so many years of writing to look to the Lord, to fix our hearts upon Jesus, to make serving our King and striving for His Heavenly reward our priority? Because it's in Him that everything we're trying to find is truly found. And in Him alone!
As we discussed yesterday, we have this foolish problem of treating happiness and joy and peace and fulfillment as if they're things that can be found within other things. We live as if happiness exists in something that we can purchase. Peace is found in having everything we want so that we never have to worry about feeling as though we're going without. Our lives are only fulfilled and meaningful when they're considered successful and productive and valuable according to the contemporary definitions of all those words, which this society always bases upon material wealth and monetary desires.
We're living our lives like dogs chasing their tails. No matter what we catch, we've gotten nowhere. No matter what we obtain, we're still left feeling empty. No matter how many times we achieve a selfish goal or attain some social ideal, we still have these holes inside of us that are caused by this excessive want that we've learned to embrace in a world that doesn't know anything of satisfaction or contentment. It's just this never-ending cycle of see, want, get, a second of joy, and then right back to rock bottom trying to find something else that will make that joy last a little longer.
Friends, what we're doing is as foolish as it gets. Trying to find joy anywhere outside the Author of joy is a wasted effort. Trying to find happiness anywhere other than the hope of Heaven is setting ourselves up for disappointment. Trying to find peace, or satisfaction, or meaning, or worth, or fulfillment in anything that is itself empty and hollow is a perfect way to waste our lives seeking something good in only the worst of places. That's yet another warning that the Bible teaches us: To stop placing your hope in things made by human hands.
That’s because we can't make happiness. We can't craft joy. We can't take a bunch of raw materials, fashion them together, and end up with something that has any chance of bringing us lasting happiness or fulfillment for our souls. Because if it's here on this earth, one day it will be gone, and we all know that. We know that every manmade thing will one day be nothing but a pile of dust, ashes, memories. If we can make it, we will leave it behind. If it's found on this planet, it will be confined to the past when this globe is no longer our residence.
So why do we continue to live as if there is something here that can bring us something that has true meaning, or purpose, or worth, or peace, or anything else? Why do we not allow ourselves to look to the Lord alone for all that we need? Why do we not set our hearts on seeking want in the form of holiness, sanctification, hope, contentment, a mission for our time on this earth that matters to more people than simply ourselves? Why do we continue this adamancy that there simply has to be something to be found in this world that will finally do the trick when we've got decades of personal evidence that it's just not possible?
Friends, until Christ becomes our source, we'll be left wanting. Until the King is our everything, we'll have nothing. Until the Good Lord above is on the throne in our lives, we'll be wandering through this wasteland looking for an oasis that simply doesn't exist. We have to broaden our search if we're ever going to find anything other than what any of us have already found. Has anyone ever found eternal hope in anything of this earth? Do you know of anyone who has found a worldly secret to unending, permanent, lasting joy?
The happiest people I've ever met are those rare few who seem to exude this light that simply isn't possible. They have a joy about them that you just know comes from somewhere else. They exist for kindness, bleed compassion, sell themselves in servitude, and live as if their lives are not their own. And you know, that sounds like yet another message found in Scripture! 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."
A life lives focused on us, what we want, what we can make, what we can find, what we can desire is a life of limits. It's a life of emptiness. It's a life spent trying to find something that isn't there to be found because we're not the ones who are able to find it. Everything we're looking for is found in a gift that has already been given to us. Happiness. Joy. Peace. Meaning. Value. Worth. Identity. Success. Acceptance. Love. Mercy. Grace. Gratitude. Hope. Christ.
It's all in Jesus, and until we accept that, we'll never know what it is that we're trying to locate. Friends, my point is that it doesn't have to be so stinking hard! God will pour so much goodness, so much peace, so much happiness, so much hope into our hearts that we will never crave anything but more of Him. When our hearts are tuned to Christ, we will find everything we've always wanted as well as everything we never knew we always needed. But we have to stop looking down here and start believing outside the box.
In truth, what all of us are looking for is hope. We know this world ain't perfect. We know our lives will never be exactly what we want them to be in this place. We know that there's nothing here that can make this ride more peaceful or more fulfilling. And so we're looking for hope in something better that's still to come. Stop looking in things that are confined to these lives, this world, and this passing time. Please look to the unending. Look to the eternal. Look to Scripture. Look to Heaven. Look to the Creator.
Because it's only when we stop filling our lives with worldly nonsense that He can fill our hearts with His Holy Spirit that in turn brings all the hope and joy and peace that we could ever hope to find right to us. Again, it just doesn't have to be so hard. We don't have to search. Don't have to beg. Don't have to buy it. It's a gift that God is waiting to pour into our lives, and all we've gotta do is lay down all the other idols we've chased and allow Him to finally have the room, the time, and the focus that we've given to so many other hollow hopes that only let us down.
Friends, He will not fail us or prove disappointing. I know that everything else anyone has ever tried has proved pointless. But when we place our trust in God, He places His Holy Spirit in our hearts. And the Holy Spirit leads us to peace through continually pointing us back to God and keeping us in this desperate search for more of His presence. This world will let us down. But our faith brings a promise. And that promise is the hope of eternity in Heaven. And that my friends is something more than this world could ever hold!
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