There’s a moment many people reach where life looks perfect from the outside. You’re at the top. You have friends, freedom, attention, and everything you once thought would make you happy. Yet somehow, you’ve never felt more empty. And get this, you may not even feel the emptiness because of how big the distraction is. You’re surrounded by people but deeply alone. You’re busy, fulfilled on a calendar, but hollow in your soul. 

That’s the great deception of being “on top.” Everything is loud enough to distract you from the truth. 

We live in a generation that craves the rush, the adrenaline of what feels good, what’s exciting, what’s easy. Commitment feels heavy. Responsibility feels restrictive. Anything that requires sacrifice is labeled as “too hard.” So we chase pleasure instead of purpose. Feelings instead of faith, and comfort instead of conviction. 

And we do it even when it costs us. Even when it hurts us and when it hurts other people. Even when it pulls us further from who God created us to be. 

The enemy doesn’t need to take things away from you to win. But he is perfectly willing to give you everything you want. Because once you get what you want, God slowly loses your attention. He loses your time. He loses your devotion. I see far too often people say they feel so much peace and happiness but their relationship with the lord is non-existent. Too many people confuse the enemy’s deception with God’s blessings. And if you do not know the word of God, you will not have the discernment to know which is which. Don’t get me wrong, we serve a very loving and good God but he doesn’t just give you everything you want, especially if it goes against his moral character. When you start to find purpose and fulfillment in things that were never meant to sustain you, those things slowly drain you for who you are. 

At first, it feels like freedom and ease. But eventually, it turns into isolation. That’s when the fall happens. 

Rock bottom feels like failure, but often it’s the first place you can finally see clearly. When the thrill fades and the distractions stop working, the truth is finally exposed. You realize how much of your life was built on what feels good in the moment instead of what would last.

At the bottom is where prayer becomes real, raw, honest, and desperate. It’s where obedience is no longer optional. It’s where you finally understand that God isn’t just meant to be a part of your life, He is the foundation of it. Because when the rain comes and the wind blows (and it always does) you will find out what you built on. Don’t be the fool that built his house on the sand, because that can only withstand good weather. Storms don’t test what you just say you believe, they test what you trusted enough to build your life on. 

Brokenness strips away illusions, in that place, you stop pretending. You stop performing. And you encounter the truth of Jesus Christ, not as an idea, not as a slip in the back pocket for when I need it, but as the only One who remains when everything else falls apart. 

It’s there that you realize fulfillment was never found at the top. It wasn’t found in what the world could give you. It’s not found in what you can do on your own. But it’s found in surrender. It is found in obedience to the One with authority. It’s found in Christ. Sometimes losing everything you thought you wanted is the very thing that saves you, because in the emptiness, you discover that Jesus truly is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only foundation strong enough to hold when everything else collapses. 

• Savanah, The Salty Company

You don’t have to wait for rock bottom to make a change. If you sense you’re drifting, it’s never too late to pause, turn around, and choose something better. And you don’t have to do it alone. If you need guidance, prayers, or someone to chat with, message me on instagram!

@thesalty.company