As a young child, I grew up dreaming of what my future would look like. I would own a business. I would be successful. I would have a beautiful wife. I would have my own great family. I would acquire thousands of acres of land to farm, hunt, fish, and enjoy. From a young age, I was confident that if I could accomplish the things mentioned above, I would live a fully satisfied life.
Well, now 15 years have passed since I first started dreaming of what my future would look like. And guess what? I am not a successful business owner. I am not married. I do not have a family of my own. I haven’t acquired thousands of acres of land to enjoy. I haven’t even bought a house yet! To my surprise however, I am fully satisfied. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine being more full or more content than I am right now.
Perhaps you are wondering, “how can someone be fully satisfied when they have failed at achieving virtually every single one of their goals?” If you asked me when I was 11 years old if I would be content with my dream not becoming a reality, I would have said, “no way!”
Let’s just say God has a way of changing hearts.
David writes in Psalm 63, “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. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name, I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”
At one point in David’s life, he was was a man who had everything. He was at the top. He was the most loved man in all of Israel. He was a war hero. He had a wife. He had riches. He had splendor. He had success like no other person before him.
However, at the time David wrote Psalm 63, he was in the desert of Judah. He was now at the bottom. He was now hated by many. His relationship with his wife was non-existent. His riches, splendor, and military success were all rubbish as he sat all alone in the desert. The desert is a place in life where everything gets taken from us. In the desert, it’s only you and God.
As David sits all alone, stripped of everything that he once had, I am reminded that fulfillment, satisfaction, and contentment in life comes not from anyone or anything. It comes simply from being in a right relationship with God. As David was all alone in the desert he simply cried out, “you God are what I am seeking!” He says, “I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you!” He didn’t thirst for the riches of life. He didn’t thirst for anyone or anything. He simply thirsted for God. David goes on to say to God, “your love is better than life” and that he will be “fully satisfied as with the richest of foods.” God was David’s satisfaction.
In my life I have also found that nothing can bring complete satisfaction or contentment other than my relationship with God. I have tried so many times to fill myself with things like success, relationships, busyness, sports, and achievements but have found every time they leave me with a hole in my heart.
Now at 26 years of age, I find myself with nothing that I once dreamed of. I find myself not living up to the standards of the “American Dream.” Yet, I wouldn’t want it any other way because I found that a vibrant relationship with God is all that I need to live a full and abundant life.
My question for you today is, what do you look for to satisfy you? Do you look for success to bring satisfaction to your life? Is it a relationship? Is it money? Is it some other form of security? All these things can definitely bring us temporary satisfaction but they will ultimately leave us empty in the end. Maybe even now, you have found that they don’t leave you all that satisfied. Perhaps, they leave you quite empty. My encouragement to you is to ponder the words of Augustine who said, “Our souls are restless, until we find rest in Him.”
Stop chasing the world. Begin chasing the Lord. He is the one who satisfies.
-Greg Salmon
