Ryan was a star athlete and the top student in his high school class. When he received his diploma, he was disappointed. He had thought there would be more satisfaction than he experienced. He entered Harvard College and received recognition and satisfaction from playing on the varsity football team. In the classroom, he was a top student. But when he received his diploma, he was disappointed not to experience satisfaction from this accomplishment. So he looked eagerly to law school at Yale, completing that program with top honors.
Once again, receiving his diploma left him with a vague feeling of emptiness and the thought that there must be more to life than this. When he received an invitation to join the prestigious law firm of his choice, his career was off to a good start. Then he and his wife designed and built their dream house. They looked forward to the day they would take possession; when that day came, there was no joy. There was an emptiness that career and marriage could not fill. “When that day came,” he said, “we realized there had to be more to life than this.”
Then Ryan met a businessman with a serenity about him that caught Ryan’s attention. In a conversation over lunch one day, Ryan asked the business many why he seemed so content with life. The businessman told Ryan that it was only through Jesus Christ that his life had meaning and purpose.
That day Ryan found the flaw in depending on activities and events; they eventually come to an end and leave you empty. Ryan found contentment when he found a relationship with Jesus. That relationship guided him into a new appreciation for life and all it has to offer. God will meet you when you seek Him!
[Dr. Henry Brandt shares insights from various people he counseled. The names and certain details in these true case histories have been changed to protect each person’s identity and privacy.]