Are You Satisfied With Jesus?
In every story and every ‘picture’ we have from scripture, Jesus was satisfied. Even when His humanity erupted briefly in Gethsemane, He came back to ‘satisfied’ as He said to the Father “not my will but your will be done” (Luke 42:22). He knew where He came from, He realized what He was facing (it wasn’t pretty), and He knew where He was going.
Can we be satisfied here and now? Is Jesus enough?
As Christ-followers, we know where we’ve come from. We know our story…what we’ve been forgiven for and maybe some of what we’ve been protected from. And we know where we’re going; to heaven to be with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and with Christian friends & family. But what about now?
Piper says, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him. He’s on a crusade to bring our satisfaction to 100%. If I’m satisfied in Him, then I know I’m loved and not just used.”
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus,” said Blaise Pascal. When God’s “Presence” fills the entirely of that vacuum, there’s nothing else to want. Nothing else needed to be satisfied.
About a million people are reading along with Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling. She refers to God’s “Presence” almost every day, reminding us of the “bubble” of His Presence around us, giving us hope, comfort, confidence and peace.
When my kids were teenagers, I’d remind them they were taking Jesus with them when they went out. “Wherever you go, He’ll be with you,” I’d say. Part of me wanted them to know He ‘had their backs’, but (confessing here) another part was an early Christian version of the ‘Elf on the Shelf’.
Jesus is ultimate. The ultimate Savior of our souls when we die, the only chance we have of forgiveness for our past here on earth, and the complete answer for every issue in our current circumstance. There’s not a single question Jesus doesn’t answer. Not a single need He doesn’t meet. Not a single outcome that can’t be understood when we see as God sees. Only He can completely fill that “God-shaped vacuum” in our hearts. We start to be satisfied when we train ourselves to pray like this…
“Lord, not my will be yours. Help me want what you want. Break my heart for what what breaks yours.”
“Lord, help me see (fill in the name) as you see him.”
“Lord, help me see my wife’s desire for a new house the way you see it?”
“Lord, help me see my health issue in light of eternity…the way you see it.”
“Lord, help me see (fill in the name of your least favorite politician) as you see him/her.”
And that’s the bottom line. We can be satisfied with Jesus when we trust His love for us and begin to see people and circumstances as He sees them. He loves you and me and He wants what’s best for us long term. As “Sonny” said repeatedly in the movie “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”…
“It will all work out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, that means it’s not the end”
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