As a father, high school teacher, and youth group volunteer I have worked with youth and young adults for several years. The teen and young adult season includes thrills and agony, adventure and apathy, enlightenment and uncertainty. It is marked by yearning to become independent, discovering interests, developing relationships, defining character, and determining a future. Perhaps you are in a similar season of life. Can I share one important piece of advice? Don’t walk alone trying to do, find, acquire, and meet. That self striving won’t really satisfy you. Walk with God. He created you and dearly loves you. Only with him will you find the love, joy, purpose, and fulfillment your soul longs for.
Stop looking for love, vocation, education, wealth, comfort and security, or fulfillment with the wrong people, the wrong place, or the wrong time. It sets you up for disappointment, stress, anxiety, and disillusionment. You develop a destructive habit of non-commitment. You miss what’s best by settling for what seems good enough or worse—you settle for something bad. There is nothing wrong with these pursuits. They are important. But they must be approached with God’s help. They are blessings from him more than they are achievements to accomplish on your own. Seek God first. Confess any wrongdoing that separates you from him and receive his forgiveness. He promises to give it because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on your behalf and victorious resurrection make it possible for you to be saved. You no longer need to die from your self-centered waywardness. You can be reconciled with God through Jesus, his Son. Become a part of God’s family by faith in Jesus. Surrender to God and rely on him. Cultivate an ever deepening relationship with him. As you do he will provide for your needs and shower you with unexpected blessings. He will transform your character to become like his. You’ll grow in wisdom, righteousness, love, grace, and truth. Only then will you be equipped to best utilize his provisions and joyfully pass them on to also bless others.
Stop looking on your own which will never satisfy the God-shaped hole in your heart. Instead start finding the abundant, everlasting life your loving Heavenly Father wants to impart to you. Begin today by simply trusting and obeying Jesus.
I’ll conclude with this brief poem I wrote.
Stop Searching, Start Finding
In the hustle of life, you often wander,
Searching for solace, your heart torn asunder.
Anxiety grips you, as you strive to find,
Satisfaction in people and things, so blind.Alone you walk, burdened by stress,
Chasing hollow dreams, causing distress.
Disappointment lingers, like a heavy cloud,
As you seek fulfillment in a helpless crowd.But hark! There is a path, less trodden, yet true,
Walking with God, by faith, broken’s made new.
His provision abundant, a balm for your soul,
Instead of hopeless, you can become whole.So, cease your searching, my friend, and start finding,
In God’s embrace, your soul forever binding.
Confess all sin, gracious pardon receive
Find all in His love, with nothing bereaved.