Looking For God

This week I found a provocative quote by G. K. Chesterton. “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.”

Likewise, I suspect that every woman living there is waiting for God to walk through the door and redeem her.

St. Augustine wrote about the restless longing that propels us into God’s arms: “Our hearts are restless Lord until they rest in thee.” This is true even when our pursuit appears devoid of holiness. In every man’s heart is an unquenchable yearning for God, but we don’t always recognize it as such. We think that we want success, fulfillment, peace, love, and happiness.

Sin always promises to give them to us. It never does. Like Botox, it promises we will feel and look our best, but over time it numbs our smile until we look ridiculous to everyone but ourselves.

When we finally discover that the world is mostly fleeting rainbows with no pots of gold, then we are ready to pursue God who has been watching and waiting for us all along.

In an interview with Relevant Magazine in 2017, comedian and actor Russell Brand said that whenever we want “more,” it is an expression of our desire for God. “Crack houses and these dens of suffering and illicit activity, they’re all people trying to feel good, trying to feel connected. People are trying to escape. People are trying to get out of their own heads. To me, this is a spiritual impetus.”

I understand what St. Augustine and Russell Brand are saying, not because I’ve knocked on a brothel door (or lived in one,) but because I often long for more.  If I only had more time… If I just lost more weight… If I prayed more, had more faith, memorized more scripture…

And I’m not even sure what follows the dot-dot-dot.

Every follower of Jesus faces it from time to time, the deep longing that numbs our peace and gives us the “zoomies” like my cat after I give her tuna treats.  

So why doesn’t God swoop in and fill our lives with more?

Because those places are supposed to be empty. Our longing is supposed to be a permanent part of the human experience. God wants His children to be a little hungry, a little lonely on the best of days so they will always turn their attention to Him in pursuit of more.

Author Brennan Manning wrote, “From the first moment of our existence our most powerful yearning is to fulfill the original purpose of our lives—‘to see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, follow Him more nearly.’ We are made for God and nothing less will really satisfy us.”

One of my friends is in early drug recovery. Last week she found out her sister has relapsed on herion. Her judgments were harsh; her words were vicious. 

I found myself wondering about G. K. Chesterton’s words. If every man who knocks on a brothel door is looking for God, so is every addict who knocks on the dealer’s door. And every alcoholic who heads off to the tavern for “just one drink.” And every morbidly obese person who pushes through the swinging door of a bakery. They are all looking for more.

None of them will find it where they are looking.

But perhaps they need to try just one more time because every failed attempt propels them closer to recognizing their empty places—closer to God who is present in those voids.

He is always waiting and watching, ready to redeem even His most recalcitrant child.