Have you ever felt as if something was missing in your life?
In my mid-thirties, I had a high-paying job, an expensive car, and more materialistic things than I could have ever imagined. However, I found that acquiring more of everything did not provide the joy and peace I was searching for. As a result, my attitude was often poor, and it adversely affected my family, friends, and co-workers.
One day, a friend told me that I was searching for joy and peace in all the wrong places. He said that my problem was a spiritual void in my life that I could not fill with non-spiritual things.
He said that God loves me and wants me to experience His joy and peace. But he said that I also had another problem. You are a sinner. But don’t feel bad; you are not alone. When our actions and thoughts are compared with a Holy God, we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). And our sin separates us from God. (Isaiah 59:2) (Psalm 66:16).
Then he told me the good news. God’s love bridged the gap between God and me when he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins. As a result, when Jesus died and rose again, He paid the penalty for my sins and reconciled me to God.
And he said after I admit that I am a sinner, ask forgiveness for my sins, and turn away from them, I can experience God’s joy and peace in my life. But I also need to believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins and ask Him to be my Lord and Savior. I followed my friend’s advice and took those steps. As a result, I found the joy and peace I was looking for.
Are all my days now filled with joy and peace? No. But now, when I find that joy and peace are missing in my life, I no longer try to regain them by pursuing more of everything. Instead, I turn to the Lord in prayer and ask him to restore my joy and peace.
But even after I do those things, I sometimes still struggle to find joy and peace. Nevertheless, I am happy to report that my struggles don’t last as long as they did before I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Furthermore, I have discovered that as long as I continue to pray and meditate on God’s Word on a daily basis, it is not too long before my joy and peace return.