Actor Dennis Quaid grew up in Houston, Texas. His mother made sure he went to church. Even so, his story is about filling a painful void in his life.
“In my teen years,” said Quaid, “I became disillusioned with what I call ‘churchianity.’ It was the late 60’s, early 70’s. There were a lot of other things pulling at this country. I read about other religions. I’d read the Bible. There was a drug culture at the time. It’s all about filling that empty hole inside you.”
That hole is a restless discontentment, the sense that something is missing. It has always plagued humanity according to philosopher Blaise Pascal. He writes, “This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God Himself.”
Even the Apostle Paul experienced the vanity, even the idolatry, of trying to fill that infinite abyss. In his case, it was his misplaced zeal for God. It drove him to an angry, murderous persecution of Christians. All this changed when Someone interrupted his trip to Damascus. “Who are You, Lord?” Paul said. The Lord replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Jesus invited Paul into a personal relationship, ended his vain search to fill that God-shaped void, and gave him a new purpose – to invite people to turn from darkness to light and receive forgiveness and an eternal inheritance (Acts 26:15-18).
Paul, Pascal, and Quaid experienced the same thing – the need that can only be filled by a relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Quaid said, “I always identified as a Christian, but I didn’t really know what that was. About six months after I did Great Balls of Fire (movie) where I played Jerry Lee Lewis, I wound up in rehab. You know you might get sober, but you still have that same hole to fill. I read the Bible again. This time the words of Jesus in the New Testament really hit me. That was the beginning of my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’d never really gotten that before. It’s about finding purpose in life.”
Quaid found new purpose in songwriting. His “On My Way to Heaven” lyrics are personal. “My life may not be roses but still I’m gonna be alright, long as I got my Savior by my side. He freed me from the heavy chains that had bound my broken heart. Picked me up, gave me a brand-new start.”
Those are the sentiments of a man whose God-shaped void has been filled by Jesus. Is that your experience?