Psalm 90:14
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
I don’t know about you all, but learning to be content and satisfied with any area of my life has been a real battle for me. Whether it has been in my career, my personal life, heck even with myself, I’ve had a hard time differentiating between contentment and just settling for the status quo. In no way shape or form am I blaming my parents for raising me the way they did! They did an excellent job of instilling in me a good work ethic and the disposition to always be the best I can be. However, as I’ve grown older, it has been very hard for me to feel a true sense of contentment. I remember being in a freshmen level philosophy course in college years ago when I heard something that really stuck with me. Since the beginning of time, every civilization has worshipped a higher being of some sort. While the majority of ancient peoples have been misguided in their choice of gods to worship, the fact remains that it seems humans were created with a sense of something bigger than themselves. In her book “A Woman and Her God”, Beth Moore writes, “God made our souls to long for Him, and we are not fully satisfied without His presence in our lives.” She goes on to say, “Salvation does not equal satisfaction. We receive salvation, but we seek satisfaction.” Those statements really struck a chord with me as I continued to read her wise words about our longing for fulfillment. For many years, especially after my divorce, and then again when Jacob moved to live with his father, I had a deep aching and longing in my heart. It was a void that I thought I could fill primarily in earthly ways….love from a man, possessions, career or money. The harder I worked at all those things, the deeper the aching, the less satisfied I felt. Beth Moore also wisely said, “…we are like beggars when our soul is not satisfied by God.”
What is sad is if we don’t learn to be satisfied by God, if we don’t look to be “in love with God”, then we will look for that satisfaction in other places. If you think about it, we are really doing a disservice to ourselves, our employers, our mates and family when we expect them to satisfy that longing in us or expect them to love us as unconditionally as God. Don’t get me wrong, there are wonderful moments in our lives that occur in those areas of our life, but nothing can touch us to the depths and reaches of our soul like God can. We run into big problems when we go to others expecting them to fulfill us in a way only God can. If we truly look to God to satisfy us and love us the way we are truly meant to be loved, then, when we receive love or blessings from others then we are truly blessed. Psalm 63:3 says, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” Do you love God more than life? Do you love God more than your spouse? Children? Career? Is God your ultimate love affair? If not, I dare say you, and me, will never be satisfied in our lifetime. Wake up tomorrow and ask God to satisfy you. Go to Him first for love, then you won’t have to say, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”
1 John 4:16 “We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, AND GOD IN THEM.”
Psalm 81:16 “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from THE ROCK I would SATISFY you.” (emphasis mine)
Psalm 145:16 “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
