October 18, 2021
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I once met a man with a painful illness, and actually we were in a very beautiful place. He owns a charming inn and it's furnished in every room with this great antique collection. It's quite a place to stay. Let's call him Art. Now, his inn is probably one of the most highly praised inns in the country, and it's not just another place to stay. I mean it gets rave reviews in every tourist book you read.
One night when my wife and I were privileged to stay there, he wandered in and talked to us about some of the success he'd had on Wall Street in a previous career. But he said, "You know, after I achieved everything I wanted to on Wall Street, I was looking for something. And I thought, 'Yeah, I know. I want an inn, in a real charming place.'"
And he got the best. He restored it to its early 19th Century charm; he worked real hard on it. And you know what else he told us that night? He said, "Now I'm looking for something else. I want to turn this over to my son." Seems like he was always looking for something else, and maybe you are too. You might have the same illness that Art has.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Destination Sickness."
Our word for today from the Word of God, we're in Ecclesiastes 3:11 written by King Solomon. Now, here's a man who, like our friend who owned the quaint inn, pursued one dream after another. And every time he came up saying, "I'm still looking for something." He called everything he had accomplished, whether it was the monuments he built, the palace he built, the women he had experienced, the riches that he had, the intelligence he had, he called it all one thing--"chasing the wind." And in the same book where he says that, his personal diary - Ecclesiastes, he says in verse 11, our word for today from the Word of God, an explanation for why man is incurably dissatisfied. Here it is: "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." Wow!
See, there's this infinite vacuum inside of you and me that cannot be filled by anything finite. A business won't do it; a lifetime dream of what you wanted to own won't do it. There's this incurable need for a life center that never ends. We have eternity in our hearts; we've got to have something eternal there. And we have destination sickness. It's that feeling you get of restlessness whenever you get where you wanted to go, but don't get what you wanted to find.
After a career in tennis and then a divorce that followed, the famous tennis star Chris Evert said in an interview years ago, "My husband and I would often sit down at breakfast with everything we had and say, 'There must be something more.'" Well, there is. Jesus said, "I have come so you may have far more life than you've ever had before." Maybe like that restless inn keeper, you always end up looking for something. Well, I want to tell you today, the something is someone. You've tried to find peace in a successful career, or the right house, or car, or clothes, or family, or relationships, or pleasure, but you just can't fill that hole.
Well, let me invite you to the only place where your search will end - where millions of people, including me, have come to the end of their search - the cross where Jesus Christ died for you. See, He died to remove the sin-wall between you and the God who was made to live in that vacuum in your heart. Jesus dealt with the cause of God being missing in all our lives. It's our sin. It's our self-will. It's our breaking His laws. It's our running our life instead of Him running them. And then He walked out of His grave under His own power, so He's alive to walk into our lives and change them, and fill that hole in your heart. It doesn't have to be there any longer. Why would you waste any more years or days looking where there are no answers and there's no ultimate fulfillment?
Tell Jesus today, "You are the end of my search. You died for me; You're alive today. I am sorry for my sin. Forgive me. Jesus, I'm Yours." So many people have gone to our website to find help in knowing how to make sure they belong to this Jesus. I would invite you to do that today. It's ANewStory.com.
Look, you can try some other destinations that won't fill that hole, or you can come home today; home to the One who made you for Himself.