What are you searching for?

The recent media attention on Robin Williams’ suicide started me thinking about how having a seemingly unquenchable void or desire in one’s life can be so devastating.

April 8, 1994. On that day 20 years ago, millions of music fans across the globe awoke to a disturbing news. Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the rock band Nirvana, had killed himself. Many of his generation had looked to him with his lyrics of alienation and almost made him into a messianic figure. He was hailed as the voice of his generation.

Claiming that he had an incredibly happy childhood until the age of seven when his parents divorced, he would spend the rest of his life trying to fill the earth-shattering void that was left. Before long, he picked up a guitar and a pen and crafted his way to a version of rock that perfectly melded together hard rock, pop melodies, and sensitive lyrics.

But that wasn’t enough. His band, formed initially with bassist Krist Novoselic, quickly established a hard-won fan-base as they recorded their first album and toured across Europe. Coming from a background invested in punk rock ideals, Kurt was originally reluctant to court the world of fame. But fame had bitten him, and he craved more and more until that too wasn’t enough. Nirvana’s last album, In Utero, starts with the words “teenage angst has paid off well, now I’m bored and old.”

That desire to fill the void would lead Kurt to search for other things, until finally he found heroin. It was after he escaped from rehab that he went missing and ultimately committed suicide at his home in Seattle.

We too can search endlessly for the things of this earth to satisfy us. We need to remember that God created all things and all things are good for us to use. However, when we put created things above the Creator we turn them into gods instead of worshiping the one true God. Let’s delight in Him for He sent His very own Son so that we can enjoy a relationship with Him.

God invites, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the water; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  . . . Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  . . . Come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 55:1-3 ESV).

Photo credit: Antwaanmusic / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Written By Sean Tong for YMI