A person who becomes a Christian moves from knowing about God distantly to knowing about him directly and intimately. Christianity is knowing God. Our desire for personal knowledge of God is strong, but we usually fail to recognize that desire for what it is. We eventually discover that our desire for that precious something is a longing no lover or career or achievement, even the best possible ones, can ever satisfy. The satisfaction fades even as we close our fingers around our goal.
Nothing delivers the joy it seemed to promise.
Many of us avoid the yawning emptiness through busyness or denial, but at best there is just a postponement. You believe that a better spouse, a better career, a better boss or salary would finally yield the elusive joy. Many of the most successful people of the world are like this - bored, discontented, running from new thing to new thing, often changing counselors, mates, partners, settings. Many people believe they have made poor choices or have failed to measure up to challenges and to achieve the things that would give them joy and satisfaction. Such people are wracked with self-doubts and tend to burn themselves out.