Satisfied
Blog by Josh Kicker
“If only…” It’s a phrase so often muttered after experiencing disappointment. An ingrained response that immediately forms, without even thinking about it, trying to bring a reprieve to the pain in our soul.
We left an experience disappointed, a work situation disillusioned, a relationship fractured or even severed and our immediate thought becomes “If only this or that happened …”
We become consumed with a yearning, a deep desire, to obtain the perceived ultimate prize: a satisfied soul. If left unchecked these unsatisfied desires become driving forces in our lives and shift our focus from seeking God to seeking satisfaction.
It’s so easy to become unraveled by the stresses of life when our focus shifts. The one thing that can truly bring satisfaction is found in walking out our lives seeking after God. Life is busy and comes at us fast. I know that in my own life it is very easy to get away from the core of our calling to seek and to know God.
I love the apostle Paul because here’s a guy who was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and the list goes on, but in the same vein can write in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV):
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
These light and momentary troubles? I mean come on, Paul…I am just livid when a friend talks bad about me much less I got beaten, flogged, or stoned. Yet, it’s the simplicity of Paul’s statements that simply says “fix our eyes”. I know if we can fix our eyes, we can fix our soul. The things we focus on and seek are the things we most often imitate.
He goes on to write in Philippians 3:8,10 (NASB):
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”
It really keeps it simple: “That I may know Him…”
I love Conference time as it serves as a time of refreshing, a time of reflection, and a focused time where we can simply fix our eyes on the one that will bring satisfaction.
Years ago there was a song by Vineyard Worship titled “Satisfied” based on Psalm 63. Anytime that I felt my focus shift and my desires seemingly go unfulfilled, I would simply play this song as a reminder that my satisfaction is sourced firstly out of my walk with God.
Psalm 63:1-5 (NIV)
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory…I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”
My prayer and hope for each and every one of us is that we aren’t parading through life going through the motions while the innermost part of who we are is left starved and searching for satisfaction. There’s no point to living “A Rolling Stones” type of life.
Smith Wigglesworth said “I am only satisfied with the dissatisfaction that has to be satisfied again and again.”
The beauty of seeking God earnestly is that it opens up a depth of relationship with so much to explore and it fills you with such satisfaction that it only inspires you to seek out an even deeper relationship. That’s what conference is about, creating an avenue for your relationship with God to go to new depths as you seek Him.