Something about this experience struck me, and I realised how, so many times, we search for joy, peace, love etc, but because we are searching in the wrong “bag”, we never find it. We may find something that feels like what we are looking for, or possibly looks like it, but on closer inspection, it turns out that it’s not quite ‘it’.

Have you ever thought you would be the happiest person in the world if only you could just buy a particular phone/dress/bag/tablet/pair of shoes/laptop etc, or go on a holiday somewhere, finish a degree, get a dream job, or achieve certain other goals? And then you bought the said item/went on the holiday/ graduated/ got the job/ achieved the goal you had in mind, but it turns out that while you indeed felt like the happiest person in the world, that feeling really didn’t last that long. By the end of the week (if it even lasted that long), the euphoria had shrivelled up. Then our aim shifts to the next big thing, and the next, and the next, but we never quite get the joy we really need from any of these things.

As human beings, there is a certain natural desire we have to feel loved, and while there is absolutely nothing wrong with this desire, sadly, sometimes it leads us to go “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places, lookin’ for love in too many faces”, as the country song by Johnny Lee goes. Basically, looking for true love in the wrong “bag”.

The thing with searching in the wrong place for something is that no matter how hard you try, how much effort you put in, how well you search, how many people help you search, the truth is that you just can’t find something that isn’t there. As I learnt from my experience.

Even trying to find peace by taking time off to be alone for instance, doesn’t always work. Because short of being able to remove our brains when taking this time off, our thoughts are still going to be with us. Alas sometimes, it is not even the events or things around us that stop us from having peace, but our thoughts, our fears and worries. I doubt doing certain things such as getting drunk in order to forget our worries works either. At best, they may provide a temporary false sense of peace. It’s a bit like carrying a bag of heavy stones, and then you get on an escalator, so you can temporarily put the stones down, but once the escalator ride is over, well, you have to pick up the bag again, slug it over your shoulder, and keep enduring the weight of it on your back. But, there’s another option, a big strong person beside you, who tells you to hand over the bag, and then He hoists it on himself as He walks beside you, while you walk on baggage-free, all through the rest of your journey.

As C.S. Lewis said in the book Mere Christianity:

“What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”

And then he went on to say this: “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing”.

Isn’t that just so true? What else can bring us true happiness, peace and joy except God? Who else can love us like He can? Philippians 4:7 (NIV) says

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Imagine peace that people cannot make sense of, because it’s there even in the worst of circumstances. It’s not peace that is there because everything is going great, or because you are relaxing on a beach looking at the calm ocean, while enjoying the gentle evening breeze. That kind of peace would be peace that the world can understand. It’s peace that almost doesn’t seem to fit in with our circumstances.

Imagine love that doesn’t depend on what you’ve done or what you will do, that doesn’t depend on your character, and that doesn’t change even when you are in your worst state… Love that doesn’t mind hugging you so tightly even if you are covered head to toe in cow dung.

Imagine the kind of joy which Habakkuk does such a great job of describing in Habakkuk 3:17-19 (MSG): “Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to God.‎ I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,‎ I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the mountain!”

We can move from merely imagining to experiencing these, if only we can stop searching in the wrong bag, and expecting these things from the world and all it offers. Because the truth is, we will always end up being disappointed that way.  When we turn to God for peace, love and joy, we get lavish portions. It’s the difference between eating a scone with a very very thin layer of cream and jam, and one with a lavish helping of cream and jam, generously spread, forming a mini cream and jam mountain…(okay, I must stop now, I’m getting hungry :-)).

But, we must seek God for God, for who He is, not what we want from Him. Otherwise, it’s like needing a phone, but going into the phone shop and deciding to buy a charging cable, hoping it will do. It won’t do, obviously. Whereas when we buy the phone, we get the charging cable and all the other extras in the box with the phone, because it really is just part of the entire package.

Are you looking in the wrong bag? You need to change your search spot. As Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. And If we indeed find God, what more could we want?