Satisfaction is temporary and shifts based on circumstances. Once it has achieved the preferred markers, it keeps moving further or to something different. We pin our satisfaction levels on material things or emotions and in some religious pursuits. It dawns on us at a very late stage in life that none of the mentioned factors can satisfy a human being permanently. Thomas Boston in his writings on ‘Human Nature in its Fourfold State’ cites, “the natural person’s affections are horribly misplaced, making them a spiritual monstrosity. Instead of focusing on heavenly matters, their hearts are fixated on earthly things. They turn their backs to heaven and face hell. God calls out to them, urging them to turn around. They love what they should hate and hate what they should love.”.
Satisfaction is the matter of heart. If your heart is peaceful and quiet, then there is inner satisfaction. Our meditations, mind calming and positive reinforcements are not going to help. The Rolling Stones, a well-known rock band in their prime several decades back, sang a song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction…”. They tried girls, money, fame–yet their song confesses dissatisfaction with what the world had and has to offer.
Jesus, God in the flesh, said “Blessed (happy) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” What does this mean? It means that true and lasting happiness and satisfaction comes only through a right relationship with God. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness. No matter how much money you make, it will leave you wanting for more. No matter how perfect you try to be, you will be discontent. No matter how much porn you consume, it doesn’t fill the void. Only Jesus guarantees satisfaction. Jesus made a powerful statement and claimed “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”. In this relationship with Christ, your soul is satisfied and eventually your longings are satiated too. Dallas Willard puts it beautifully, “Our soul is like an inner stream of water, which gives strength, direction, and harmony to every element of our life. When that stream is as it should be (rooted in the vastness of God and his kingdom), we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do.”
Andy Woodall states the opposite of this satisfaction is where many find themselves, like how Jeremiah in the Bible described God’s people, “For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.”. We forsake God. We creatively, deceptively, and possessively craft our own fantasy path to pleasure and satisfaction only to find out how empty, broken, and riddled with pain and disappointment, that imaginary path is. The pleasure of the moment is then swallowed in the pain of reality. You have a choice, a choice to choose the living Savior who can bring perfect satisfaction. Try to know Him more and find how He can bring peace joy and satisfaction. You can grab an online Bible and read in your preferred language. I suggest you start reading from the gospel of John.
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