True Satisfaction

What brings true satisfaction? The quest for satisfaction is endless and age-old. It is one of the main driving forces of humanity. People spend their entire lives seeking to satisfy that longing. We all long to be filled and fulfilled, and many claim to have an answer to that, but which one is right? Is there anything that truly brings lasting satisfaction?

Proverbs 13:25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,
But the stomach of the wicked is in need.

The key to true satisfaction is in the heart and what one seeks. We must seek the things that are truly good, things that are of God, in order to be truly satisfied, for those are the only things which last. Everything else leaves us empty, hungry for more.

 

Ecclesiastes 1:14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.

Ezekiel 7:19 New American Standard Bible (NASB) (emphasis added)

They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

This is where seeking for satisfaction in the wrongs things and places leads. The world promises to satisfy, to have the answer. “You just need more stuff, a better job, bigger house, more parties, more drugs, and then you will be happy,” but that is a lie. It never ends. Those things never satisfy, and sin leads to destruction. In the long run, people end up throwing out what really matters because their sin has brain washed them, they become blind to the truth, consumed only with the desire for more. Yet, they fall further away from what brings true satisfaction.

Isaiah 55:1-3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.
Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;”

This is God speaking, trying to get those who turn to the world for satisfaction to see the truth, to find true satisfaction. It begins with salvation. We cannot have any satisfaction until that God-sized whole within our hearts is filled. Jesus is calling, “Why do you waste your money on what won’t satisfy you? Listen to me! Let me fill you!”

Jeremiah 31:25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.

God is the One who brings true satisfaction. He can even cause those who are weary and suffering to be refreshed and satisfied, something that is worldly impossible! He brings true rest, He gives true peace, He truly satisfies. In Him alone will we find what we crave.

Isaiah 58:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

But we have to come to Him, we have to acknowledge and live by His truth. We have to have true faith. We can’t find satisfaction in half-hearted religion. That is not how we are filled with God. We must give our selves completely to Him. We must serve Him with everything we have.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Deuteronomy 11:13-14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.

This is not a health/wealth/prosperity gospel promise for us. The physical things of the Old Testament are a metaphor of the spiritual things in the New. In the same way that we no longer need to offer physical sacrifices, our blessings may not be physical either. God promises something much more! He promises Himself! Instead of blessing us with food that will spoil and water that will dry up, He gives us spiritual food that will never go bad and a fountain of water springing up within us.

Of course the physical blessings we receive are from Him, but our faithful service does not guarantee an easy life. Also, the suffering we endure is not a sign of His displeasure. Instead, we can know that through it all He is in control, He is with us, and we can have satisfaction no matter what our circumstances as long as we have Him.

Philippians 4:11-13 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Paul knew the secret to a satisfied life. It is Jesus! Nothing in this world will ever satisfy. It will always leave us wanting because it is not what we were created to be filled with. We were designed to desire and be filled by God. Nothing short of Him will cut it.

Are you satisfied? Are tired of the endless quest for satisfaction? Seek no longer! Find true satisfaction in a heart abandoned to Christ! Let Him fill and satisfy you as nothing else can! He is calling, will you answer?