There was a hole. I tried to fill it with self-help techniques. I read some of “The Secret.” I read Tony Robbins. I asked the “universe” for help. Some of it seemed to work. There was still a hole.

I see many do this. The self-help section at the book store is filled with books. Oprah has her own network designed to help people fill the void in their lives. Many are searching for the method that fits them. I know I searched for a system that would allow me to be the same person and not change what needed to change. I searched for a system that told me I was in control and in charge of the outcomes.

I found many methods and systems that did this. They teach that it is within your own power to get the things you want. Usually the “things” are what is important in these systems. Want a car? Visualize you have the car. Want a house? Visit the house. Want a million dollars? Print out fake money and put it on a vision board.

(What does this prove?)

Did it make me a better man? Did it make me a better husband? Did it make me a better father?

I was on that journey but now my eyes have been opened. It is hard to look sometimes when they are open. Many people have the same void. They are looking to fill it by making the same bad choices I did. I see them going after things in a way that “works for them.” The problem isn’t going after your dreams. The problem is how you go after them and for what purpose.

Self-help books might help but they will not give you the answer. Yoga might get you to breathe but it will not give you the answer. The universe is an amazing creation but it does not have the answer.  Motivational speakers with different ways to think may have some useful information but they don’t have the answer.

These things may provide temporary help. They may give you the illusion of helping you get the car, house, or other worldly possessions, but those things don’t last. They can’t fill the void. They may even make the void deeper and darker.

The truth I was seeking was not found in a “what”. The way I was seeking was not found in a “how”. The life I was seeking was not found in a method. All of these were found in a Person. A Person who is the Creator. He was there in the beginning, is here now, and will be there in the end. No material things can replace Him. No other ways promise what He promises.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5

You can amass a world of things but you can’t take them in the end. “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either”. 1 Timothy 6:7

I am not saying don’t make money or buy things, I am just saying know your purpose. Know the real reasons you want things. Know the real void you are trying to fill. Know that no matter what method you follow you are living for eternity. It is up to you if your eternity will be with God through His Son Christ Jesus or an eternity separated from God.