this photo was taken at vance creek bridge outside of seattle in washington state. if you know me, you know that I love the pacific northwest. if it is in God's plan for me I will definitely be moving out there as soon as I can. you've probably seen pictures of this bridge on instagram. in fact this bridge is what started my obsession with the pacific northwest. I saw it all over instagram, and I knew that I had to go and see it in person. just look at it. it is a perfect showcase of man's handiwork and God's handiwork side by side. and here we are able to see the difference between things made by God and things made by man: things made by God last even when man makes an effort to destroy them while things made by man fall apart when left alone. but even though the wood on this bridge was rotting and I knew that walking out across the bridge was dangerous, I wanted to. and I would have, if it weren't for my father standing beside the bridge sternly warning me not to go even a foot farther than I already had. but why was it that I wanted to walk out on this dangerous bridge? was just seeing it not enough? if not, then what is enough?
lately I've been thinking a lot about the innate desire that humans feel that pushes us towards wanting more. as humans, it is only natural to desire happiness and fulfillment. but we often try and find that in material things. I've had conversations with people who have told me that their one goal was to be rich. it's a goal for many people, my guess is that you know at least one person who has this as their one life goal. it's so common in fact that most people wouldn't think much of someone saying it. but it breaks my heart. when I hear that all someone wants from life is to be filthy rich I just want to scream. I want to tell them that there is so much more to life than money. that money will never satisfy them. that they will always be desiring more. but I don't. I sit there quietly with a smile on my face, nodding while I listen to their dreams but feeling heartbroken inside. it's not that I don't want them to be happy. it's the exact opposite. I want for them to be happy and I know that if they look for that happiness in money they will never find it. money is good. things are good. but when you center your life around them you will feel more longing than happiness and that will wear away at you.
this doesn't just apply to money. this applies to all of the different places that people try to find fulfillment and satisfaction in. whether it's money, sex, alcohol, drugs, grades, people, or whatever else you can think of you will never achieve true satisfaction from these things. but if it has been proven that we can't achieve true happiness from these things, then what's the point? is there a way to live a life full of happiness and fulfillment?
you see, there is a way to experience true happiness and fulfillment. there is something we can set our eyes upon and devote our lives to and our efforts will not go to waste. there is hope. the only true satisfaction comes from God. C.S. Lewis writes:
"God made us: invented us like a man invents an engine. a car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. there is no other. that is why it is no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. there is no such thing."
if this quote is not convincing enough to you go read ecclesiastes. it's pretty harsh, but man is it good. nothing gets me more pumped about Jesus than ecclesiastes. good stuff!!!! so now that I'm done fangirling over one of the most depressing books of the bible....
let me repeat one of the most important things that I have learned in my life:
the things of this earth will not provide lasting happiness. God will.
it's hard to grasp. it's easy to want to walk out on the dangerous bridge in search of greater adventure or happiness or whatever you're looking for, even though you know deep down that once you do that you'll only be wanting the next best thing. but it's so easy to get caught up in the now and forget that what awaits you in the future is so much better. God does not just offer us life, he offers us abundant life. now I don't know about you, but plain old life seems a lot less appealing when you are offered abundant life.
and it will always be a struggle to devote my life to God. it's not easy, I can assure you of that. why "pick up your cross" and follow him when you can easily attain momentary happiness from the latest iPhone? why deny yourself when you can walk in to anthropologie and buy that dress you've been wanting? because while the happiness provided by earthly things might be fleeting, I promise you the happiness that comes from God is not. and that's what keeps me going. kind of like coffee but also a thousand times better (now that's when you know it's good).
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