by Pastor Don Neighbours
Satisfaction—guaranteed?
One of the benefits from shopping at stores like Sears and Lowes and Wal-Mart is their “Satisfaction Guarantee.” That means if you don’t like something you bought at the store, you can return it for a refund so you can get something else. A guarantee is a powerful thing; it binds the one who gives it to the one who receives it. It’s a promise to make good on what they have said. But guaranteeing satisfaction is difficult, if not impossible!
How many of us are expecting some kind of satisfaction with life? We want to be satisfied with the gadgets we buy, and we want to be satisfied with life. The stores with a satisfaction guarantee will tell you that some people are never satisfied, even with a refund.
Satisfied means we have stopped looking for something else; we are contented with what we have. Some people think they can’t get what they really want, so they adjust their expectations downward. That means they think they can be satisfied with less; but that’s submission, not satisfaction. The question for us as we seek to follow our Savior is, Are we satisfied with what He has done for us and given to us? (If not, what will satisfy the needs of our soul?) Finding our purpose cannot be done without first finding satisfaction in knowing Him and going with Him. Dr. John Piper said, “One of the most important discoveries I have ever made is this truth: God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him. This is the motor that drives my ministry as a pastor. It affects everything I do.”
Perfect satisfaction
King David wrote in Psalm 17:15, “And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.” God calls us to know Him, and He plants that yearning in our hearts so we seek Him, and so we will not be satisfied with anything less or anything else. The Presbyterian pastor Matthew Henry (1662-1714) said, “There is no satisfaction for a soul but in God, and in his good will towards us, and his good work in us; yet that satisfaction will not be perfect till we come to heaven.” The satisfaction King David spoke of is only fulfilled when we look upon Jesus in Heaven; but the fact that it is a future reality does not mean we should not experience some measure of it by faith today. Our faith, trust, and confidence in God’s Word can bring our future satisfaction together with our present experience in life. Life may not come with a “satisfaction guarantee” but God’s promises are bigger than life, and heavenly satisfaction is assured—and that means we can stop looking for something else in this world and live a life of satisfaction in what our Savior has waiting for us! Proverbs 19:23 says, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction.” If we know that Heaven is our destination, then whatever happens in the present—good or bad—at least we know we are going in the right direction. What could be more satisfying than that!
