Saturday, August 25, 2012

Bumper Sticker: Never Satisfied

HIIII!!! I missed you, pruned branches blog!!! Let's get reacquainted, shall we?

A while back, I saw this bumper sticker while sitting in traffic on the highway. The bumper sticker read "NEVER SATISFIED" ... I found it ironic that the person who chose this sort of proclamation also drove an old Ford Escort hatchback. I wondered if that bumper sticker was there because of the car or because the person driving the car truly was never satisfied. As we crawled along, inch by inch by mile, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Back and forth my heart went wondering about the person in the car. Sad to say, I never caught up to them to take a sneak peek (and no, I'm not the only person to look at people while they drive by!) but I did spend some time imagining who they were.

Perhaps I would've seen an overweight woman  - she is never satisfied and uses food to fill the desire she has deep, deep in her heart. Perhaps I would've seen a young college aged girl - one who is never satisfied despite the fact that her parents worked hard at saving for her education and can't understand why they grumbled at paying $40 for a cotton tshirt with a store's logo on it. Perhaps I would've seen a hard working man who is acting passive aggressive towards his wife and alluding to the fact that he works his tail off only to feel like it's never enough for her. Maybe a high school boy slapped that bumper sticker on his Escort to tell the world that this wasn't it for him - the Escort will one day be a Mercedes or better because he is driven enough to work hard enough for it.

Never satisfied.

While speculating about the Escort's ghost driver, I was struck with a healthy (but heavy) dose of conviction. Why would this be interesting to me? Why would I care so much about it? Know why? Because I am one who struggles with this.  I think the term struck so close to home because I find myself there, ... more often than I care to admit if I'm being honest. I can't tell you how many times I have thought "if I only, if we could just, why can't we have/do/see/experience?" Instead of reveling in the blessings in my life, I spend more energy thinking about and looking at the things I don't have. What am I trying to do by doing that? What could I possibly gain? The things of this world will one day decay and be destroyed by moths and rust - why do I covet them? Why do I look to find fulfillment in them? Why do I look to be satisfied by them?

In truth, TRUE satisfaction is something our hearts feel when we've done something according to God's will. If He calls, and we answer, our hearts are satisfied. Our hearts feel full to bursting with the joy of our Lord. What this bumper sticker taught me was that if we really allow ourselves to be His hands and feet; and if we allow ourselves to live out His will for our lives, then we will be satisfied with the most satisfying satisfaction (say that three times fast!). There is no comparable measure on earth to a God-satisfied heart.

So... if we measure our satisfaction through our God-satisfied heart, we will find that food nor things will ever compare; nor will anything of this world ever satisfy you so fully and wholly. Look to God, and not anywhere else, to find satisfaction. His words taste better than any meal and His kingdom is worth more than any earthly gain.

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. ~Psalm 63:2-5