The Eternal Quest

All of collective humanity, throughout all time and every age, at some point and time is on an eternal quest to find some meaning or reason for our existence. We are each, in our own way, driven to find the true meaning of life.

To the hedonist, life is seen as finding its greatest meaning or reward through some new source of pleasure. Pleasure to those so-minded is in and of itself a reason for existence. Yet one can never find true meaning in this way; for in the final analyses, the lust for some new experience is both its own reward and curse. The senses become overwhelmed by the pleasure of sensation in whatever form it may take. Lust in all its forms only gives birth to greater lust, and this in and of itself is only a form of slavery. Cursed indeed are those who find themselves enslaved to their passions.

We have all known the pain or sorrows of life: the loss of a loved one, the pain of sickness or disease, that hopeless desperate feeling engendered from within the human heart, that for whatever reason leaves us feeling isolated, alone, and out of control. What human soul has never experienced the helpless feelings of desperation that such times bring? At such times our hearts are gripped with fear as the very ground of our existence becomes shaken to the core.

If life teaches us anything it is that it is constantly changing. One can never be sure what is coming. Things are never all bad or good. Our lives are like train tracks for side by side we face both the challenges of pain and sorrow alongside the wellsprings of hope and meaning. I would submit to you that we all have that great fundamental need to find some reason that goes beyond ourselves for our existence and meaning.

I would submit to you that what we are all looking for is not to be found from within our own hearts or life experience. The human soul is capable of being puffed up by an overestimation of our own worth or pulled down by the weights and sometimes the emotional and physical chains that life brings.

The eternal quest for meaning is a search for relationship that goes beyond ourselves. God the Father sent his son Jesus Christ to die in our stead; that by his resurrection we would, through the Son, find ourselves not just forgiven, but also connected to the heart of Father God. I can look back over the decades of my life’s experience and in so many ways and forms have had him touch my life. He shows his love in so many ways. The wonder of every new sunset and the beauty with which he paints the buttercup are both divine examples of the heart of Father God.

I have known the joy of having him touch my heart with the joy of his presence. God touches and moves on each human heart in so many diverse ways. We can be in a time of praise and adoration with thousands of others in a service. Yet as I reflect back on such times his touch has always brought with it that internal realization that he moves on each one of our hearts one at a time. Even in a crowd, that relationship with him is what matters.

My heart is warmed in quiet reflection as I bring to my recollection how many ways he touches our lives. Yet with every new revelation, with every new awakening within my heart and the body of Christ, what we are on is a quest to know His heart. No one moves my heart and thirsty soul as He does; He and only He can bring into your life true meaning.

I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” (Lamentations 3:24)

Copyright © Michael Plemmons, used with permission.