A few years ago I was fortunate enough to make a lot of money in an honest manner, but I invested it very badly. I thought the money would never run out, but I was very surprised when suddenly, after being involved in gambling, bad habits and worldly pleasures for only one year, I lost all that I had once dreamed of having forever. Too late I realized that having things is meaningless unless those things have some significance. I had friends and women to spare. Today I am very sad that I no longer have anything: no friends, no women, and no family. They all abandoned me when they saw that I now have nothing, and I am paying the consequences of those bad habits.
Please help me find God in a definite way, because without Him I believe that I won’t ever amount to anything.
Dear Friend,
We are very sorry to hear that you are alone and empty. Everyone needs friends and family to encourage and love them. We believe that your friends and family will eventually come back after some time passes. Hopefully you will be able to forgive them for the way that they treated you, and they will be able to forgive you for anything you might have said to them.
There is an historical example of someone who had a similar experience to yours. Solomon, the wise teacher and king, wrote: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”(1) Solomon had every material possession and luxury that was available in his day. History tells us that he also had 700 wives and 300 concubines.(2) But even though he didn’t lose his money or women as you did, he still concluded that happiness and contentment are not gained through possessions or physical relations with women.
Most people will never have the opportunity to learn first-hand the lesson that you and Solomon both learned: that having all the material possessions that you can dream of does not bring you what you want or need. In fact, it often brings emptiness, sadness, and even despair. There are many true stories about people who have won large sums of money and then lost it just as you did, and some who even took their own lives because of regret and depression.
You asked about finding God, and we can tell you that a personal relationship with Him is the only way to ultimate satisfaction and contentment in life. He can give you a reason to go on living and a purpose to make you get up every morning. He is close to you right now. All you have to do is pray in your own words and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to come into your life from this day forward. Ask Him to show you how to dig yourself out of the hole you are in. Read the Bible, beginning with Ecclesiastes, to find out what happened to Solomon. There is hope for you, too!
We wish you well,
Linda and Charles
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1 Ecc 2:10,11
2 1Ki 11:3