Dexter Axeworth found a friend and mentor in Ed Peters. In Chapter Sixteen of Some Other Time, Dexter wrestles with why Peters, one of the wealthiest men in America, can have such peace in a world overflowing with his things. Dexter wonders if Ed is worried about someone taking all of his stuff.
Ed carefully explains that none of his vast holdings are really his – God has given him stewardship responsibilities over everything the Houston Chronicle says he owns, and a whole lot more. Dexter processes:
Finally, in almost a whisper, he (Dexter) said, “Then why am I constantly fighting for everything I think is mine? All this time, has it been stuff that’s temporarily been filling the hole in my soul?”
-Excerpt from Some Other Time, Chapter 16
He’s guilty of a common misconception in all of our lives. We’ve confused things as our own, and things thereby fill a void in our souls. Things become our god. But when they break, run out, become obsolete and the like, we have to go get more things to satisfy that void feeling we have. The Bible says it this way:
“For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” 1 Timothy 6:7 NKJV emphasis added
Since none of it is ours, then clearly we have stewardship responsibilities over everything we’ve been given. Things are fleeting. Relationships – especially one with the Almighty, are eternal. Though salvation is a free gift from God, it’s not something given to us. We have to search for it, accepting salvation when finally found. So Dexter listened a lot, asked great questions, and searched like crazy. Ed Peters had something Dexter wanted, and it had to do with satisfying a lifelong hunger that he never could seem to fill with things.
Funny how when you’re searching so hard for something, sometimes whatever you’re searching for will run right over you. Dexter HAD to find the same peace he was seeing in Meredith and Ed Peters – the same peace he’d witnessed first-hand when his long-time friend Wendy was going through her horrible divorce.
But he wasn’t prepared to find that peace in Turks and Caicos while on a business trip with clients Anna and Steve Olson. Over dinner, he finally found what he was looking for:
It hit him like a lightning bolt: Steve’s playing life’s game some twenty moves ahead of the rest of us. Always wanting more. Unless he has the advantage in life, he’s not happy. His and Anna’s restlessness can only be indulged by worldly things. Their happiness is solely derived by knowing more than everyone else, being in the right place at the right time, and winning life’s game of accumulation.
-Excerpt from Some Other Time, Chapter 16
“Things” force us from a healthy relationship with God. It’s much easier to have a relationship with things we can see, feel and touch.
But when we find God through the person of Jesus Christ, God sends the Holy Spirit to come live in our soul. Immediately, that vacuum-filled void in our soul is overwhelmed with His presence. A presence so big, the stuff that used to satisfy us becomes immaterial. So, here’s what happened to Dexter:
He knelt by his bedside, earnestly praying for the first time in his life, asking Jesus to forget his past and give him a new start. Instantly, he was filled with the Spirit of God, and the emptiness that had plagued him since childhood was suddenly gone.
-Excerpt from Some Other Time, Chapter 16
Peace prevailed. What about you – are you running on empty and need to find peace in your life? Are you searching but not finding? Think about filling your soul with something that’ll never run out, never tarnish or rust, and never need replacing. Now that’s true peace!