Don’t Miss the Meaning
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. Jeremiah 29:13
Have you ever felt like a puzzle that’s missing pieces?
Laila had a good job, friends, and family, but still felt like something was missing. She described her longing as a sort of loneliness of the soul, a deep emptiness. Aside from our basic needs for food, shelter, and friendship, we all long for purpose that gives us direction and satisfaction! We want a challenge that brings out our best and adds profound meaning to our lives.
Like Laila, if you find yourself asking why you exist, you’re already on the path of searching for meaning. A famous scientist once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”[1] God gave us hunger and longing for an unknown “more” because He made us to be in a deep, meaningful relationship with Him. A relationship with God is so essential to our design that we long for it, even when we don’t know what it’s we’re longing for!
In the Bible book of Jeremiah God says, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:13). Those words are for you. Jesus said, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
A tragic life is the one that’s spent running from the hunger for something more. Instead, let the emptiness lead you to the God who made you out of love, with purpose in mind.
One man who found God after years of searching described the journey saying, “The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from.”[2]
[1] Miller, William. “Memoirs of William Miller,” quoting Albert Einstein. Life magazine, 2 May 1955, expanded ed., p. 281.
[2] Lewis, C. S. Till We Have Faces. HarperOne, 2017. Pp 74.