Satisfaction
God has already given me everything I need.
I don't know exactly where that phrase came from, but it has been in my head for the past couple of months. I believe that God gave it to me. I find myself repeating it often, silently, to remind myself. I wish that I fully believed it. Or rather, I do believe it, but I don't always feel it.
God has already given me everything I need.
What do I need? What do any of us need? I don't mean what we want. We want all kinds of things. But I have always kind of thought that the list of things we actually need is quite short. And, yes, you can probably see where this is going. All I really need is God. Right?
I have been a Christian for a long time; basically for my whole life. I know all the Sunday School answers to life's problems. When I was in high school, it became a joke to me and my friends. Whatever the lesson was, when the youth leader asked us what we should do to apply it to our lives, we would roll our eyes and say, "Pray, read the Bible, go to church." And who can argue with that? But was I actually doing those things? Not really. I knew a lot about God back then, and I always followed the rules, but I didn't really know God.
So, when something seems off in life, when I feel uncertain, or dissatisfied, or worried, or afraid, the right answer comes easy, or at least the words do: Jesus is the answer. I should find my satisfaction in Him and Him alone, and not in anything or anyone else. Not in a job, or a car, or a relationship, or an accomplishment. Not in the words of another person. The only validation I need is from Him.
I know all the answers. So why do I still struggle?
I suppose that's just how life is. It's a journey, and we won't arrive at our destination this side of heaven. Even if God gave me all of the things that I want (or think that I want), I'm sure I would still find something to be dissatisfied about. So I live in this tension: I will never be fully satisfied, and yet, at the same time, I know, at least logically, that I can be fully satisfied in Him. And back and forth I go.
So if I am to keep moving forward in this journey, I have to remind myself of what I know is true, even when I don't feel it. I remind myself of Philippians 4:13: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." This verse, as you may know, is in the context of being content in all circumstances, whether we have a lot or a little. Can I be content in all circumstances on my own? Probably not. But as I rely on God's strength, I can. And as I remind myself of this truth, over and over again, maybe I will start to believe it.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes about his dissatisfaction, his "thorn in the flesh." Whatever this thing was, it must have been very difficult for Paul, who pleaded with God to take it away. But God didn't choose to change Paul's circumstances. Instead, as he writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."
My grace is sufficient for you.
God has already given me everything I need.
Psalm 37 talks about what might seem like a familiar situation: everyone around us, especially the people we don't like, seem to be getting everything they want. But I'm not getting what I want. It's not fair. But in truth, we can put our trust in God. Verse 4 is familiar to many of us: "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Okay, great. Where are the desires of my heart? Because I don't feel like He's giving them to me.
Perhaps we cling too much to the second half of this verse without addressing the first half. Take delight in the Lord. Not, "Ask God for what I want." God is not a vending machine, and He is not Santa Claus. He doesn't owe me anything. In fact, to borrow the language of Ephesians 3:20, He has already given me exceedingly abundantly more than I could have ever asked or imagined. My job, then, is to delight in Him. To put my hope in Him, rather than in people or things. In doing so, my heart, and my desires, will become His. I will come to want what He wants.
Slowly. Gradually. As I draw closer to God, and my heart changes to become His heart. I have not arrived yet, and so I still struggle with feelings of dissatisfaction, of insecurity, of worry about my life now and in the future. I will probably never fully arrive as long as I live on this earth, but maybe today I can be a little bit closer than I was yesterday, and then a little bit closer again tomorrow.
God is faithful. He may not change my circumstances, but I know that He has always given me everything I need.
He will always give me everything I need.
I don't know exactly where that phrase came from, but it has been in my head for the past couple of months. I believe that God gave it to me. I find myself repeating it often, silently, to remind myself. I wish that I fully believed it. Or rather, I do believe it, but I don't always feel it.
God has already given me everything I need.
What do I need? What do any of us need? I don't mean what we want. We want all kinds of things. But I have always kind of thought that the list of things we actually need is quite short. And, yes, you can probably see where this is going. All I really need is God. Right?
I have been a Christian for a long time; basically for my whole life. I know all the Sunday School answers to life's problems. When I was in high school, it became a joke to me and my friends. Whatever the lesson was, when the youth leader asked us what we should do to apply it to our lives, we would roll our eyes and say, "Pray, read the Bible, go to church." And who can argue with that? But was I actually doing those things? Not really. I knew a lot about God back then, and I always followed the rules, but I didn't really know God.
So, when something seems off in life, when I feel uncertain, or dissatisfied, or worried, or afraid, the right answer comes easy, or at least the words do: Jesus is the answer. I should find my satisfaction in Him and Him alone, and not in anything or anyone else. Not in a job, or a car, or a relationship, or an accomplishment. Not in the words of another person. The only validation I need is from Him.
I know all the answers. So why do I still struggle?
I suppose that's just how life is. It's a journey, and we won't arrive at our destination this side of heaven. Even if God gave me all of the things that I want (or think that I want), I'm sure I would still find something to be dissatisfied about. So I live in this tension: I will never be fully satisfied, and yet, at the same time, I know, at least logically, that I can be fully satisfied in Him. And back and forth I go.
So if I am to keep moving forward in this journey, I have to remind myself of what I know is true, even when I don't feel it. I remind myself of Philippians 4:13: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." This verse, as you may know, is in the context of being content in all circumstances, whether we have a lot or a little. Can I be content in all circumstances on my own? Probably not. But as I rely on God's strength, I can. And as I remind myself of this truth, over and over again, maybe I will start to believe it.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes about his dissatisfaction, his "thorn in the flesh." Whatever this thing was, it must have been very difficult for Paul, who pleaded with God to take it away. But God didn't choose to change Paul's circumstances. Instead, as he writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."
My grace is sufficient for you.
God has already given me everything I need.
Psalm 37 talks about what might seem like a familiar situation: everyone around us, especially the people we don't like, seem to be getting everything they want. But I'm not getting what I want. It's not fair. But in truth, we can put our trust in God. Verse 4 is familiar to many of us: "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Okay, great. Where are the desires of my heart? Because I don't feel like He's giving them to me.
Perhaps we cling too much to the second half of this verse without addressing the first half. Take delight in the Lord. Not, "Ask God for what I want." God is not a vending machine, and He is not Santa Claus. He doesn't owe me anything. In fact, to borrow the language of Ephesians 3:20, He has already given me exceedingly abundantly more than I could have ever asked or imagined. My job, then, is to delight in Him. To put my hope in Him, rather than in people or things. In doing so, my heart, and my desires, will become His. I will come to want what He wants.
Slowly. Gradually. As I draw closer to God, and my heart changes to become His heart. I have not arrived yet, and so I still struggle with feelings of dissatisfaction, of insecurity, of worry about my life now and in the future. I will probably never fully arrive as long as I live on this earth, but maybe today I can be a little bit closer than I was yesterday, and then a little bit closer again tomorrow.
God is faithful. He may not change my circumstances, but I know that He has always given me everything I need.
He will always give me everything I need.
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