Satisfied

There was a woman - we read about her in Scripture - who had suffered terribly over the years. It seemed that her painful companion was in it for the long run, while she had come to her end. She had spent all that she had to find relief from twelve years of isolation and physical pain. Who could lay blame on her for seeking healing and giving all that she had to be freed from that which had left her with miserable mornings, long days, and lonely nights? Her quest for real hope had left her depleted, until the day she encountered Jesus. ¹

Perhaps you’ve felt depleted as well - not in a physical sense, but in a soul sense. You’ve sought for satisfaction in that which does not satisfy, at least not in a lasting sense. You’ve felt the dryness of a desert journey and known what it is to thirst for a cool drink of refreshing water. Your heart is faint and your soul is weary.

Well, you are not alone. God knows how you feel and why you feel the way you feel, and he is extending an invitation to you,

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. ²

There is nothing wrong with working hard to provide for our own needs or the needs of our family; the problem arises when we search to satisfy our souls with the things that were never meant to satisfy our souls.

Inside of each of us there is a deep thirst for what I’ll call the “new and lasting.” You are familiar with that, aren’t you - the disappointment that causes a hunger for more? The newness of a relationship that starts to require work. The fading new car smell from a vehicle you just bought three months ago. Last week's vacation that you need a vacation from. All things, even good things, eventually lose their newness because God has placed in each of us a longing for the eternal. ³

There are times that God will remove from us those things that we seek satisfaction in - a satisfaction that is meant only to be found in Him. Food, sex, our career, alcohol, a relationship, health and wellness, financial stability. Even good things can become bad things when they become idols. ⁴ There is nothing wrong with enjoying the good gifts that God has supplied, but there is a difference between enjoying God’s good gifts and looking to them to satisfy our heart's deepest longing. Augustine said,

You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. ⁵

Jesus invites those of us who have been awakened to our deepest need for Him. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest ...” ⁶ echoing the prophet Isaiah’s invitation from God to all who are unsatisfied,

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ⁷

It is a mercy of God to remove from us those rotting crutches we often lean upon so that instead, we are "leaning on the everlasting arms ..." as the hymn goes. ⁸ True rest is found only in Jesus, and only He can truly satisfy. 

Will you come, taste and see that the Lord is good?

References

¹ Luke 8:40-48

² Isaiah 55:2

³ Ecclesiastes 3:11b - He has planted eternity in the human heart ...

⁴ An idol is anything that replaces God as our source of comfort, salvation, and devotion.

⁵ Confessions 1.1.1

⁶ Matthew 11:28

⁷ Isaiah 55:1

⁸ Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

music by Anthony J. Showalter and lyrics by Showalter and Elisha Hoffman