This might not have anything to do with finding satisfaction, but a lot of us are looking for it. If you’re anything like me, most of the reasons I do what I do is to find satisfaction. My work doesn’t get published or printed until I find satisfaction with it.
Our lives are consumed with a quest for satisfaction, and we look for it in just about everything. What we don’t find satisfaction in receives an unwelcoming spirit from us, or gets sold on craigs list or left on the side of the road hoping to be picked up by someone who will care for it.
Unfortunately many of us see this happening with our stuff. I recently replaced the sink in our kitchen. There wasn’t any need for a new sink. But I saw an orphan sink on craigs list that was deeper and white that would totally change the feel of our kitchen to even more of a country theme. It was two whole inches deeper than our old one, and makes for an easier washing of all the large stuff we use for dinners. Sad to say, the old sink had to go and the new one came in to take its place. In the process, though, I couldn’t get the sink drains or garbage disposal seperated from the old sink. It went by the road in hopes that someone else could find a home for it.
We throw away the stuff that doesn’t bring us satisfaction. We look for the newest thing in hopes that it will fill a void we didn’t know we had until we are told that we need it.
God spoke to me through Isaiah the other day. I’ve been mulling it around in my head for a long time now and just have to tell you what God has taught me. In chapter 55, there are some things in there that will change your life and your perspective if you allow it. The first verse talks about buying milk and bread without cost. It’s interesting that God tells us to buy something for free. It makes me wonder what He means about buying something “without cost.”
I think what God is talking about is that our seeking a relationship with Him costs us nothing but time. If God is asking us to come and buy something from Him without cost, it must be good. It’s not a cost to us, but it cost Him everything. He freely gave so we could freely receive. The passages before proclaim the coming of a Messiah who would die on a cross to wash our sins away. Could it be that the call of God can bring us the satisfaction we’ve been looking for for such a long time?
The next verse is what hit me pretty hard. It asks, “Why do you spend your money for what is not food, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” Afterward, an invitation to come take from that which is living, that does impart satisfaction.
In our attempts for satisfaction, often times we look to God last. We tend to turn toward ourselves and our money, our friends and family before we think about turing toward God first. We find these great deals on things that will eventually get thrown out by us or someone else instead of finding satisfaction with what God has given us to begin with. I know this might seem a little off-base from what Isaiah says, but I don’t think it is. It’s easy to get caught in the race for the better thing that’s out there.
Ultimately, it comes down to a question of faith. God asks about why we spend our money on things that don’t satisfy. His invitation comes to us from all fronts. But we typically have our backs toward Him and don’t see the invitation because we’ve turned around to see the shiny object that we caught a glimpse of in our peripheral vision.
Whether we want to admit it or not, our purchases begin with the thought that this new thing will make our lives better than they were. Do we believe, really believe that God is enough, that His FREE gift is worth it for us?
These verses share a type of marketplace calling. The first words are a cry for attention to the product for sale. When we see signs stating that something is FREE we turn around. We walk over to it and see if the FREE item is worth having. Is the FREE gift of God worth having? Check out the product that doesn’t cost anything and see for yourself.
The other thing, we seem to always go to the mall without having any money to spend. We spend wages we haven’t earned on things we don’t need thinking our lives will be better now that we have them. Then we get the bill from what at the time didn’t cost us anything. It bites our butts (that’s where our wallets reside).
But God offers something that never even required our wallets to be taken out of our pockets. The only thing it costs is time. Time to listen. Time to spend with Him. Time to incline in His direction. He promises abundance if we’ll incline in His direction.
Here’s the issue and what we have to deal with. We walk through a marketplace of different promises made from a bunch of telemarketers. Each one promises an abundant life. But only One has the real authentic product and the rest will leave us coming back hoping the warranty is still valid. Is it too good to be true? A FREE gift of life? A real life, like He promises in verse 3, to truly live?
It’s not too good to be true because it is true and it’s completely good! Any other product is a scam set up by the same corporation. Why would we look anywhere else?
How does contentment not fit into this? We look all over for a better product. We don’t turn to God. And that’s how we got in the mess we’re in. We look to God to pull us out of our problems without looking to Him first before we create the problem ourselves. We make decisions without involving Him, don’t we? We can handle it, or so we think. Then we’re stuck in a bad situation asking God to save us once again from something we got ourselves into.
Satisfaction can be found in the security of our trust placed in God alone. If God is for us, who can be against us? He will never leave you, nor forsake you. He is with you always, even to the end of the age. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Do you believe that God is enough? How does your life and the decisions you’ve made thus far proclaim that?
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