I Am Never Satisfied

I am going to make a confession: I am never satisfied. I do not know why I feel this way, but throughout my life--including yesterday and today--I am not satisfied. As I visit with my family and my friends and my church and my city and my country and my world, I get the impression that no one is every satisfied in life.

I am not satisfied with my research and writing efforts. I am not satisfied with attaining my goals or intentions each day. I make out a list every morning, but at th end of the day, I do not accomplish everything I planned or hoped to do that day. I am not satisfied with my conversations during a day. After the conversation is over, and I reflect on what we talked about, I realize I did not say enough, or I said too much, or I forgot about something I wanted to talked about further. I am not satisfied with my friendships. Sometimes I think things are going very well, and then sometimes I think our relationship is rocky. The story goes on and on.

But it is not just me. Notice "famous" people--past and present--who obviously are [or were] never satisfied. Some of our movie stars change spouses several times during their lifetimes. Some of our athletes change teams or positions during their careers. I know several people who have changed their jobs several times, not because they were fired, but because they just could not be satisfied.

Now, not being satisfied may be a good thing in several circumstances. For example: scientists are constantly trying to discover and understand people and situations to improve life--think of cars and airplanes and highways and so many other things we now enjoy that people did not even know about a century ago. Doctors and researchers are constantly trying to find ways of overcoming human diseases and disabilities of all kind. This is so important and marvelous. In this sense, we need to be satisfied.

As a balance, there is a kind of "dissatisfaction" which is not "spiritually healthy or uplifting." The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes was a "searcher." He achieved a PhD (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18), but was not satisfied. SO, he turned to "pleasure," sought to cheer his body with wine, built houses and planted vineyards, made gardens, bought male and female slaves, had great possessions of herds and flocks, amassed great treasures of silver and gold, organized male and female singers, and had many concubines (Ecclesiastes 2:1-8), but was not satisfied. SO, he buried himself with hard work and built an economic empire (Ecclesiastes 3:9-16), but was not satisfied. And the story goes on and on.

Like the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes, we spend endless hours, money, time, efforts--the works--just so we can be satisfied. And the next morning, we wake up, and we are still unsatisfied.

Is there any way out of our trap? Augustine said simply that we are "restless" until we "rest" in God. This sounds so simple, and we REALLY do not believe this will work. "Let go, Let God?" Sounds good, but this will not work.

Jesus, our Lord and Master, offers to all of us this simple invitation:

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).

Genuine REST is a GIFT from GOD. God offers this gift. It is up to me and to you to accept and receive this gift.

It seems that I am never satisfied. What about you? Share your thoughts with your friends and your church and your community about your dissatisfaction. Let me know what you think. How can we help one another about this taunting problem?

John Willis