Looking for Satisfaction

Today we join Trenton, Missouri pastor Doug Franklin at a blog whose title says it all: I Refuse to Play Church.  This item appeared on his blog under the title Satisfaction.

Do you ever feel like the old Rolling Stones song “Satisfaction“? The song says, “I can’t get no satisfaction.”

We all have a desire to be satisfied. We search out satisfaction through money, food, relationships, entertainment, jobs, hobbies, exercise, and all kinds of things that are both good for us and bad for us. We have a need to be satisfied and we try different things to satisfy the feeling of being unsatisfied.

No matter what we try we are left singing with Mick Jagger, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” This is because there is really only one thing that can truly satisfy us. The things of this world may give us temporary relief, temporary happiness, temporary highs but, they will never totally satisfy us. The emptiness that each of us have can only be filled by God. There is nothing in all of creation that can satisfy us completely, the stuff will always leave us unsatisfied. Satisfaction comes from the Creator of everything.

Psalm 17:15
“As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.”

There is truly only one thing that can satisfy us forever and always. All other things leave us wanting more. They leave us empty. WE will continue to sing over and over, “I can’t get no satisfaction. But, I try. But, I try. I can’t get no satisfaction.”

The emptiness that you feel can only be filled by God. You and I will be satisfied, fully and completely by Christ. Seek him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Seeing Illness as a Blessing

Yesterday’s and today’s items here don’t have any specific scripture references.  I wrote this three years ago at an obvious low point, and thought it might be applicable to someone reading it today; maybe you are that person.  Readers may want to add a scripture verse in the comments that references one or all of the points here…

• Illness forces us to slow down, and that forces us to do the things that really matter, and that forces us to decide what really matters
• Illness forces us to ask God for help on behalf of ourselves, which seems selfish at times, so first we have to apologize for asking
  
• Illness causes us to ask other believers to join in prayer for us, which can be rather humbling
  
• Illness helps us remember others who are suffering, it helps us to identify and empathize with their situation
• Illness – while not necessarily caused by sin -brings us to a wonderful season of self examination and determination to aim for greater holiness
  
• Illness reminds us of our mortality; our material culture has forced us to cling to everything including life itself, but our lives have an expiry date
• Illness has a mellowing, sobering effect on us – some things can become potentially more irritating, but some other things no longer matter as much
• Illness forces us to ask bigger questions; Is God in control? Does He care about the details of my life? Will he intervene in a special way?
• Illness brings into clarity other times we were ill, and reminds us that God brought us through that time
• Illness helps us hear Christian songs differently; “I thank God for the mountains, and I thank him for the valleys…” Can I do that right now?

I’m sure there are other things, too. Most of the prayer requests in our churches are for issues people are dealing with in their physical bodies. Pray specifically for one another. If you are the person for whom this was for today, listen for God’s voice in the middle of all you’re going through.