It seems like our society is always searching. Searching for something to fill a void in our souls. Always looking forward to the future. We’re wishing and desperately hoping the best is yet to come. That the next season in our lives would bring more success and happiness than ever before. We get caught in routine and live each day simply to make it to the next. We fail at understanding happiness is temporary, but joy is here to stay. The joy I’m talking about only comes from one thing: Jesus.
We are all born with a thirst for God. Before we meet Jesus, we don’t know how to satisfy this thirst. We quench it with earthly desires, only to return back to where we started, feeling emptier than before. With this thirst comes a hole in our hearts. This longing can only be touched by the creator of the universe. Philippians 1:21 says:
“To live is Christ and to die is gain.”
It’s important for us to truly apply this to our lives. Jesus won’t ever completely fill us, at least while we’re on this earth. We live for Christ; It’s not until we die and are physically with Him in heaven that we’ll gain all understanding. We’ll never know God in His entirety, He’s a mystery. I don’t know about you, but that completely fascinates me! He deliberately planned for us to know only part of Him, because if we knew all of Him we wouldn’t be in constant awe. Let me tell you, it worked!!! I am completely in wonder at just the thought of Him. I can never fully grasp who He is, but He gives me the privilege of knowing more of Him each day.
I wish I could tell you my life got less difficult when I chose to follow Jesus, but I can’t. My life is still messy and I don’t have everything together, but who does? It’ll always be a bit messy, but by knowing God I have purpose. He makes me new every single morning, and fills the longing that only He can. My character is developing through the trials, pain, and frustrations that I face. Occasionally, I catch myself feeling guilty for not feeling complete. How can I be a Christian and have all of this joy, yet still feel like I’m lacking something? But Jesus doesn’t say following Him will be easy. In fact, He says the opposite:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few”
-Matthew 7:14
I’m learning now more than ever I need to solely seek Jesus. I’ve had to surrender finding my worth in others and desiring their approval. It hasn’t been easy, but He tells us as His followers that our way will be hard. This narrow path is promised to be difficult, but it leads to life. There’s no better way to say it ( thanks Jesus:-) ). Choosing the typical path of this world is easy, but it leads to destruction.
I have so much passion and hope for our generation. We can change the world. We have so much potential. The Holy Spirit is so alive. We can’t settle for jobs that merely pay the bills, we have to find the purpose God gives each of us. We are all on this earth for a reason, and that reason isn’t to make it by. One of the biggest lies is that we need a backup plan. God makes no mistakes. We must blindly follow Him, we don’t have to understand His reasoning, just follow.
So STOP! Stop waiting around to feel complete. YOU WILL BE WAITING FOREVER!!!! Accept that God didn’t intend for you to be full on this earth. If we reached that point we would cease having purpose. Find your purpose and know that in every good story there is conflict that causes the character growth. So that means when we let Jesus write our stories there will be conflict, but it’ll make us grow. Keep seeking Jesus and gain more of Him everyday. He’s working in us and growing our character. What would we look like if we didn’t think the best was tomorrow, but instead we thought it was today? If we truly lived in the moment and took each opportunity captive, because we truly are just passing through. Take the narrow, difficult and less traveled path. It is promised to be more rewarding- every single time. It leads to LIFE! So what I’m trying to say is- don’t be a part of the many, strive to walk with the few.
