The Answer

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What is the answer to our greatest questions in life? Who am I? What am I doing here? How should I treat people around me? What is moral? What is the purpose of it all? These questions come to us all every day in different small ways. I ask variations of these questions to myself regularly. Right now, I am taking a class where we explore one of these questions and right a 15-25 page scholarly paper on it. So, these questions have been floating around in my a little more than usual. I guess since we have been finding scholarly sources for these papers, I have been looking for the answer to these questions in the world. I was realizing this week, however, the answer to these questions doesn't come from the world. I have found parts of the truth in good things like psychology, good books and movies, philosophy, politics, and other good ideas, but I haven't found much peace. Every time I think I've found it, I learn more about the idea, and realize that, while it has truth, it is not quite right. I have felt a little lost, and like the people God is referring to in Isaiah 50:11.
"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." 
This is not to say that looking for truth in the best books and knowledge of the world is a bad thing. There is plenty of truth to be found there, I just felt lost because I wasn't grounding my knowledge on God. These past couple of weeks my faith had taken a bit of a hit because of some experiences I had while dating, and it wasn't as strong as it has been. I was looking for stability and comfort every which way, but I wasn't turning to God for it like I always have in the past. My relationship with Him was not gone, it was just a bit strained on my side. I realized this on Wednesday, while I was in German class. We were learning about the different political parties in Germany, and while I saw that they all had merit, I was just overwhelmed by the fact that none of them were right. They all had problems that caused them to not be the answer to how people are supposed to live together. It felt like I had different pieces of a puzzle that should fit together, but had been bent out of shape so that they didn't anymore. The picture was there, but it wasn't making any sense. 
Then, I realized that I needed to get context on those pieces of truth that I was finding first. Just like how putting together the edge pieces of a puzzle first makes it easier to put the other ones in place, I needed to put together the context of the gospel first before I put the other pieces in. The gospel is the answer, Jesus Christ is the answer, to all of the questions I have been asking. I need to look for answers there first, and then I can continue to find truth in the knowledge of the world with that context. But the answer is God, and I had forgotten that. Sparks are good, but trying to use them to warm you instead of a fire isn't effective. Middle pieces of a puzzle can be put together, but they are much harder without the context of the edges. And the context is, and answer is God and his Son Jesus Christ. 
Picture credit: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-1027391639-pile-jigsaw-puzzle-pieces

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