November 2, 2023
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My wife was on this airplane flight, and she was sitting in the aisle seat, and a mother was sitting next to her in the middle. And this little four-year-old girl, the daughter of that mom, was at the window. The daughter had never flown before, so she wanted to be where she could see. It was one of those cloud-covered days. This little girl occasionally glanced out the window.
But when they got above the clouds, oh, all of a sudden her nose was pressed to the glass; she's looking intently all over back and forth, and after a few minutes of inspecting the sky, she turned to her Mom. She said this with real concern, "Where are they? I can't see them, Mommy! Where are they?" And her Mom said, "Where are what, honey?" She said, "The angels. Mommy! Where are the angels?" The poor little girl! She thought she knew where to find these spiritual beings, but they weren't where she thought they would be.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Searching Without Finding."
That poor little girl! She searched, but she was disappointed. She didn't find what she was hoping for, what she expected she'd find. She's not the only one this has happened to. A lot of people are looking for spiritual reality today. They're looking intently, and they're not finding it where they thought they would. You look out that window spiritually and you go, "Where is God? Where is this spiritual peace? Where is eternal life? Where is the love I thought I'd find here?"
Jesus answers that in our word for today from the Word of God in John 6:35, where He declares, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry. And he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." Now, Jesus is addressing something that I think throbs inside of each one of us. It's a spiritual hunger and thirst. It's what the Bible calls eternity in our hearts.
I think you already know that we need something spiritual to fill the hole in our heart. Maybe you would classify yourself as a spiritual seeker. You've lived long enough to know that earth stuff and earth relationships are not enough to complete us. Jesus says He's the end of that search. We're always seeking; seems like we're never finding.
Maybe in a sense you've been looking out spiritual windows hoping to find some peace and some reality. You've looked in maybe this religion or that religion, maybe crystals, or horoscopes, or psychic powers, or whatever. So many windows you could look through today, but each view has ended up unsatisfying and disappointing.
There are reasons why all the roads except the one to Jesus and His cross leave us hollow inside. It's because what we really need is not spiritual experiences or warm feelings or beliefs, or even a caring group. We need to get rid of the sin that blocks us from the relationship with the Creator. That's why we can't see Him. There's this sin wall. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have separated you from your God." And what we're searching for is a bridge across that separation. How do we cross this Grand Canyon between us and God? We're trying hard. We're looking in all these things, but we haven't found a way to get to Him.
Romans 5:8 says, "But God proved His love for you in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." See, only one person can remove that wall. It's Jesus. Are you tired of looking out that window for spiritual reality and coming up disappointed? Where is God? Where is the love and peace? It begins at the cross where you say those two words with all your heart. As you observe Jesus' dying there, you say, "For me! This is for me."
If you want to know this Jesus, finally find what has eluded you in all your searching? Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." I invite you to go to our website, because it's there to give you what you need to know at this particular moment of being at the end of your search. Go to ANewStory.com.
No religion is going to do it for you, or an experience, or a group. You're looking for a love relationship with the One you were made by and made for. Why don't you look His way? Because Jesus is everything your heart has ever looked for.