New car. New house. New love. New body. New friends. New church. New clothes. New hair. New truck. New toy. We always wish we could have something better. We’re all waiting for new things. It’s like what we have is never good enough. Whether we have it good or we have it bad, there’s always something we want that we don’t need.
And why is that?
Are we looking for satisfaction in material things?
Are we not satisfied with the things God has already provided?
Are we living our lives never happy with the circumstances we are in?
We’re never completely satisfied.
Today, as you sit wherever you are sitting, in whatever room you’re sitting in, pause.Breathe it in. Be thankful. Be satisfied. Quit trying to change the season that God has you in. Stop comparing yourself to other people’s Instagram photos and start thanking God for where He has you. Quit waiting for and expecting the good season God has you until the end. You’re setting yourself up for failure. Quit thinking your life sucks. Or maybe you’re thinking “it’s too good to be true," and you don’t want it to end- so you freak out. Don’t let a moment pass by without realizing that there will never be a moment like that again. Be satisfied.
Probably the biggest problem with today’s society is that people compare their lives to others when all they see is the pretty parts. All they see is the tiny glimpses of happiness captured in people’s photos. You only see what they want you to see. I hope other people don’t compare their lives to mine because I’ll tell you now that there are way more crazy things going on than what they see on my Facebook. I’ve been broken. I’ve struggled with finding out who I was supposed to be. I’ve had my heart torn out of my chest. I’ve lost people in my life I thought I would never lose. I have scars from surgeries that I had as a baby. I cry about almost everything, big or small. I live everyday afraid of losing important people in my life. I compare my life to other people. I know I’m not perfect. But in the midst of all this heartbreak and struggle, I have the hope and the promise that there is a God out there that holds my heart in His hands. I’d like to say I’m not broken anymore. I’m actually really happy. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t still live in fear. I have had so many people abandon me and call me their friend just to walk away. Ever since I was in elementary school, I have faced rejection amongst people I called friends. I live in fear that the people closest to me right now won’t be any more later on down the road. I love my friends, I love my family, I love everyone God has placed in my life who have loved on me and reassured me that there are people who are going to be there for me through everything. I need that.
Eventually you learn the phrase “quality over quantity.” I need constant reassurance that everything will be okay. I need people closest to me to tell me they love me on a daily basis. And that’s okay. I have been so blessed with some of the best humans beings in the world. Thank you Jesus. Sometimes things in your life scar you. Sometimes you go through things and they are constantly embedded in your heart and in your mind and they affect the way you interact with other people.
Let me tell you something about fear. Fear is quite possibly one of the greatest setbacks anyone ever has preventing them from chasing things that are great. Fear consumes us and it shouldn’t. Fear shouldn’t consume us because we have a God that conquers fear.
But you know what I do, and you probably do this too, you let it keep you from being fearless. You say, I can’t get close to this person or do something with my career because “What if...” If fear is consuming you and getting in the way of your motives or your relationships or your life, let me encourage you. “Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18 NIV). Because of Christ’s perfect love, we don’t have to fear. We don’t need to be afraid of what tomorrow brings. We don’t have to be afraid of what’s going to happen next. We can be completely satisfied with knowing that God has conquered our fears, regrets, and ghosts. Everything that sets us back from being fearless in Him. He conquered it. He takes the things that scare you to death and that have torn you to pieces and he says “you know what? I died for that. I died and I told you not to worry.” But we worry, so often, don’t we? So many times I find myself picking out the smallest things in my relationships with people and being scared that there’s something more and that I’ll lose them. I freak out. Sometimes I even shut them out. Sometimes it makes me hesitant to make friends with people because I’m scared they’ll leave. But I have an unwavering, omnipresent, magnificent God that is there for me despite that fear, who meets me in my fear, who tells me it will be okay. Who pushes me out of my comfort zone sometimes and says “Hey, I put this person in your life. Love them with all your heart.” I hear the whisper “BE SATISFIED.”
Jesus has overcome.
Jesus conquered your fears and your sorrows.
Surrender them.
You are not alone and you are not unworthy.
You don’t need material things because you have a promise of eternal satisfaction from Christ. You can be satisfied. You can be free. Christ makes you complete.
What satisfaction we have in the completed work of the cross.
What satisfaction we have in the life He has given us. A life completely wiped free from all the sin and dirtiness and emptiness that we were born into.
What satisfaction we have in the love that He bestows on us.
What satisfaction we have in the joy we can have because the things He has provided for us.
What satisfaction we have in the rock that we have because of what He has done.
Jesus paid it all.
All to Him I owe.
So don’t live a life unsatisfied. BE SATISFIED. Be content in the life that you have because of the finished work of the cross. Live your life satisfied in the grace and the love that you have been granted. Because you have been granted freedom and eternal life and security.
Don’t find your hope in money or friends or earthly love. Those things are only temporary. Find hope in the things that God has given you.
FAITH. HOPE. LOVE. JUSTICE. FREEDOM. JOY.
Count your blessings, And no, I’m not just saying that. Take time to write down everything you’re thankful for. and everything God has given you. Be thankful for your season.
You can be completely satisfied.
