“I’m full!” “I slept so well last night!” “I found the perfect dress for the party!” “This couch is so comfortable I may never get up. And to make matters even better, the Steelers game is on TV!”
Satisfied. Being content with what one has. Not wanting more. Not wanting anything else. When was the last time you were completely satisfied? What brought you that satisfaction? The perfect meal? Finally getting your ideal vacation? Spending quality time with someone you love? Getting exactly the answer to prayer you were hoping for?
At some point, we all get to be satisfied. Even if it’s just in one small area of life. Even if it’s just for a little while. We all know how good it feels and we all wish we could feel that all the time. But life doesn’t work like that, so sometimes, we have a choice to make…
I’m finding that in my life, my satisfaction is completely tied in to another word we’ve talked about: Surrender.
In Psalm 63, David tells God that He is all he wants. David says that his soul longs for God, it thirsts for God, it seeks after God. That longing and thirsting and seeking is an act of surrender. David knows that only when he is walking with (not behind or in front of or away from) God will he be in the place of blessing. He puts it this way in verses 3-5:
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.My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
David wanted nothing more than God’s love in his life. It was in his relationship with God that he found satisfaction in every other area of his life.
“But David had everything else he could possibly want,” you say. “Of course he was satisfied.” This is true. But please notice that he doesn’t say he found satisfaction in his job or in his friendships or in his wealth. His satisfaction came from being with God and from being in the center of His will.
Right now, I’m struggling with where God has placed me. I think that I should be in a career, in a healthy marriage and that I should be raising children. But none of that is true. I’ve spent plenty of time being miserable about these things I don’t have. But recently, I decided that being miserable was doing nothing for me. It wasn’t helping me achieve any of my goals and it certainly wasn’t making me feel any better about my lot in life. So I made a decision to be satisfied.
Whenever I find myself grumbling about something I don’t have or that I’m somewhere I don’t want to be, I stop myself and say, “God, teach me to be satisfied where you’ve put me.” That’s it. Yes, I do have to pray that multiple times a day, but after a few weeks of that prayer, I’m starting to see results. I’m happier, I’m more relaxed, and I’m more open to new opportunities and possibilities. It doesn’t mean I don’t still hope to one day get the things my heart has been desiring for so long, but the difference now is that I’m not obsessed with them. And, If God has decided that those things are not in my future, I know I’ll be ok.
Nothing in my life has changed. I still have the same job. I still haven’t met a guy. I’m still not a mom. But I’m different. I am changed. I’m finding that I need to pray that prayer fewer and fewer times each day (but note that I still have to pray it daily…). I have chosen satisfaction. And at the same time, I’ve chosen surrender. And you know what? It feels good.
God may want me to stay right where I am for the rest of my life. Or, He may have something huge and exciting planned for me. I don’t know. But for the first time in my life, I can honestly say that it just doesn’t matter. I want nothing more to be in the center of His will – wherever that may be. He really does satisfy my soul. And if you let Him, He will satisfy yours as well.
Are you satisfied where God has put you? How have you learned to be content in whatever circumstance you find yourself?
P.S. This fits so well with this post, I just had to add it…
