Greg Laurie on I Thought I Was Looking for Answers, But I Was Really Looking for Hope

When I was a young man of 17, I had a lot of questions. Why do I exist? What is the purpose of my life? What happens when I die? I wondered as I experimented with drugs and partied with friends.

The year was 1970. I remember hanging out on the streets of Newport Beach, California, at a time when our nation was in chaos. The “hippie,” anti-Vietnam War, Civil Rights and Jesus movements were radically changing culture and people were searching for answers to life’s biggest questions — like I was.

A lot of religious literature was being handed out in those days. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Krishnas and Christians approached me, offering answers to my questions. Over time, I amassed a respectable collection of tracts that told me how to find peace and explained the meaning of life and eternity.

Although I acted like I didn’t care about the contents of the tracts, I kept all of them in what I called my “God drawer.” Every once in a while, I would empty the contents of the drawer onto my bed and try to make sense of it all.

That same year, The Beatles released their hit album, “Let It Be.” I felt like the song, “The Long and Winding Road,” was the anthem of my life:

Many times I’ve been alone//And many times I’ve cried//Anyway you’ll never know//The many ways I’ve tried//And still they lead me back//To the long winding road//You left me standing here//A long long time ago//Don’t leave me waiting here//Lead me to your door.

More than anything else, I needed hope. A famous cardiologist wrote in his autobiography, “Hope is the medicine I use more than any other – hope can cure nearly anything.”

But hope can be elusive in this world we are living in.

We are in a presidential race and people are rallying around their candidate and party platform that they are passionate about. Politics have their place of course, and every American ought to register and vote, but our leaders alone will not bring us the answers and the hope we so desperately need as a nation and individuals.

You will not find the hope and purpose you are looking for in technology either. It’s always a thrill to get the newest version of the newest gadget but we quickly adapt to it and look elsewhere for our next endorphin hit.

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SOURCE: Christian Post, Greg Laurie