We live in interesting times. Spirituality seems to have been taken out of the public domain, yet there is an increasing interest in the spiritual. We just can’t ignore the draw - there’s something more to life. Last year we were amazed at the number of people we met at various fairs and national events that claimed to believe in spiritual things.
As Christians we know that true spirituality is found in God. Life is completely changed when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see the truth about our own rebellion and the amazing work of Jesus dying on the cross for us and coming back to life. This is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’
Anna Huws is no stranger to spirituality, having spent time in India and working in a Christian retreat centre. She shares a little of her own take on this.
If anyone allows themselves a moment to think in our fast-paced world, it doesn’t take much to see that there is something so much bigger than the material world we are a part of. It takes courage to face the reality that there are questions so much bigger than ourselves. So, for many of us it’s easier to numb the nagging voice by throwing ourselves into endless entertainment, which keeps the voice that cries ‘there has to be more’ at bay. For others like myself, the longing inside is so strong, it forces us to step out beyond the boundaries of what we know and understand.
Even though I grew up going to a church, and I had a deep longing to know and experience God, my longing for the spiritual wasn’t satisfied in that context. I tried to walk away from the inner longing, but the voice inside kept calling. Finally, one day, sat on my bed, I told God that if he was real I wanted to find and know him. It wasn’t a dramatic moment, but it changed my life. God responded to my cry, and I’ve been on an amazing journey of discovery ever since.
I spent three years living in India (the place many people who have a spiritual interest visit), and I’ve worked in various settings where I’ve encountered different expressions of spirituality. I’ve observed and been challenged by the journey of others. However, along this journey of discovery, I have yet to find anything that comes anywhere near what I’ve found and experienced in the person of Jesus in the Bible! He may not be the one shouting the loudest in the market of spiritual experiences, and he may have been confined by many to archaic church buildings, but this is not an indicator of his relevance or power to break into our world today. For me, finding Jesus has been like finding a chest full of treasure. You can look at a chest from the outside and it looks ordinary and unimpressive, but when you open it up you are blown away by what’s inside!
Why not explore Jesus for yourself? You can start by reading the Bible and simply asking him to show you who he is.
Jesus said “I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God... For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
First published in Ask Magazine August 2019