'Finding Yourself'

Our modern day culture places a considerable emphasis on the process of

'Finding Yourself'

There are quotes about it, books on it, twelve-step plans telling us how to go about it, online quizzes telling us who we are... Travel, explore other cultures, religions, rituals, spend time alone, do things that scare you, analyse your emotions: the things we do to find out 'who we are'. None of these are bad things, but what about the goal they seek to achieve? How worthy is the goal of 'finding yourself'? And, if the answer is 'very', how should we do it?

I was watching a bit of 'Eat, Pray, Love' with a friend the other day and we started discussing why it is that people think they need to travel to find themselves. Is it about getting out of your comfort zone to see how you react? Or about learning new things to see if those things are what you've always longed to do?

I've travelled. I've experienced different ways of life in South Africa, the Philippines, Romania, New Zealand, Ireland. And, without a doubt, those times have made me grow, possibly more than any other times in my life, but have they told me anything useful about who I am? And has that knowledge changed the course of my life?

I'm not sure I could say yes to that.

Because, despite how much I've loved those things, despite how much I would recommend travel and exploring and adventures, I think the key to finding yourself is much simpler. 

I think the key to finding yourself is actually not about finding yourself at all.

"Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him, everything else thrown in."
CS Lewis

If you had a coffee machine (mmmmm coffee) that was supposed to produce wonderful, hot, tasty coffee to get you through the day, but instead only spewed out cold water and random intervals, what would you do? First step would probably be to get out the manual, to read the manufacturer's instructions. If that didn't help, maybe a phone call to the manufacturer. You wouldn't send the coffee machine to Outer Mongolia to fix itself (ok, so coffee machines don't have legs and eyes, but you get my point, right?)

My point is this:

Can I suggest that, perhaps, if you want to find out who you are, you need to look to the one who made you?