We’re all searching for something. Whether it’s love and affection from a significant other, a relief to our anxiety, a distraction from our failures and insecurities, or the approval we haven’t gotten from our parents/loved ones, we’re all trying to find something that’ll fill this void we have in our heart.

Trust me, I know.

This is the longest I’ve ever been without being in a serious relationship, and I spent the majority of last semester trying to fill that void. Whether I knew it in the moment or not, I was honestly just looking for attention or acceptance from boys. And in the moment, I figured that the best way to fill the void was with the world. I clung to partying and drinking in order to make myself feel better.

And whether or not you want to admit it, you’ve done it too. You’ve realized you’re missing something relating to the examples I listed above, and you looked to the world to fix it. Is that something to be embarrassed or ashamed of? No! Everyone does it. And honestly, the world is really, really, really good at temporarily fixing our pain and filling our void. Partying with friends, inflicting physical pain, or refusing to eat are all ways we try to fill our voids. “Maybe if I drink, he’ll like me more,” or, “If I don’t eat today, I’ll quickly lose the weight,” are thoughts that the world puts in our heads to make us quickly cling to it. It’s such an easy trap to fall into, and it becomes addicting. We constantly end up unsatisfied but constantly go look to those temporary satisfactions.

If college has taught me anything, it’s that there’s a much more fulfilling way to fill these voids. As a kid who was raised in the church, I can’t tell you the number of times I was told that I have a “Jesus-shaped hole in my heart.” And as stupid as it always sounded, that “stupid” little phrase has been so applicable to me this semester. I tried to fill that hole with too many world solutions. And no matter how great and fulfilling they felt in the moment, I was always left unsatisfied the next morning.

One of my favorite songs is “Good, Good Father,” by Chris Tomlin. It honestly words the solution to this problem so well:

“I know we’re all searching for answers, far and wide. But I know we’re all searching for answers only You provide.”

It’s so true. We literally do some pretty crazy things to fill the emptiness we sometimes feel. I went pretty wild last year trying to cover up my insecurities. However, how sweet is it to know that the Lord is an ever-present solution to our troubles? We don’t have to do anything crazy or wild to get Him to fix our solutions- all we have to do is ask. It’s so simple yet so easily overlooked.

I’m not telling you to quit drinking or to quit dieting and I’m not telling you that the things the world offers are all that bad. He gave us this world to enjoy! However, the world isn’t here to satisfy our emptiness. Yeah, the world has some pretty fun stuff to offer, and embracing these things isn’t a sin. However I’ve started to ponder and pray about what it is exactly that I am desiring in my life, and after a lot of thinking and talking with Jesus, I’ve realized that I’ve tended to look to the world to fix my problems. And you wanna know how that’s been working out for me? Well, it hasn’t.

I urge you to think about what it is you’re desiring and what it is you’re looking to for fulfillment. And with that I ask, how exactly has that been working out for you?