Never Satisfied

“Some people are never satisfied!”

Have you ever said that, thought that or been that? I have. It seems to be the human condition more often than not! Why is that? Because of what happened in the Garden of Eden.

“Now hold on for just a minute! How does something that happened thousands of years ago affect our satisfaction today?”
Go back and read the first chapters of the Bible book of Genesis. It’s enlightening.

According to the Bible, God made our world a beautiful place of peace, harmony and joy. But Adam and Eve were convinced they were missing something. So they willfully disobeyed the God that made and loved them. And when they did, they broke God’s perfect world.

Ever since, humankind has tried to find the joy and satisfaction that was present in Eden. C.S. Lewis writes, “There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never keep their promise.”

Sometimes we think, “If I can just get this thing, be that kind of person or go to that place, then my life will be worth living.” But when we get it, become it or arrive at it, there may be a momentary sense of well being, but it passes quickly and we want more.

We tell ourselves, “This will make me happy, this will make my life right. If I get this job, if I get this spouse, if I get this kind of life or if I can finally get out from under this debt, then I’ll be OK. If I buy my dream house or that boat or that vacation home—this will make me happy.

But it never does. Why is that?

The Bible says that a man’s eyes are never satisfied. It observes that those who love money never get enough of it and that even wealthy people are not satisfied with their income!

Life’s disappointments were summed up well by the Rolling Stones when they sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction. But I try and I try and I try and I try.”

Could it be that nothing in this world will ever satisfy us because we’re made for something beyond this world? Re-read that last sentence and think about it for a minute.

The message of the Bible is that we were made for a personal relationship with our Creator. Yes, God made us to find delight in our life on earth, but we will never find ultimate happiness in the things or people that fail us.

God knows we’ve tried. We constantly expect to find joy in a relationship or a job or a thing. So much so that we unknowingly make idols of them.

An idol is anything or anyone that you look to as the source of your ultimate hope in life other than God. What is that for you? To what do you cling hoping it will bring you security, joy and happiness?

Many people spend their entire life pursuing the elusive pleasure of satisfaction.

It is only when we come to God through Jesus Christ that we learn we are loved more that we can imagine--because the Bible reveals God as one who loves the unlovely. All through Scripture he constantly chooses the nobodies of this world to be the somebodies he blesses.

Wouldn’t you want to make that God your ultimate hope? Wouldn’t you want to worship the God who says, “I will never leave you or forsake you”?

It’s true. Some people are never satisfied. But you don’t have to be one of them. Instead you can find lasting joy and satisfaction in Jesus Christ if you come to him today.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!