When my children were young they loved to finish a meal, rub their bellies, and say in a loud voice, "I’m stuffed!" My mother, who teaches etiquette classes, decided that this was not a very elegant way to end a meal and taught them that a better way to express that they had eaten enough was to say, "Thank you, I’m satisfied." It was a great try, but we discovered that it is not always easy to stop at satisfaction, especially when we could become stuffed. This is not just true with food — we live in a culture that encourages us to be stuffed with stuff; yet, in spite of all our stuff, polls tell us that we, as a culture, are more bored, restless, and discontent than ever before.
Why? Because we were not created to be satisfied with stuff. Augustine had it right when he confessed to God, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." Our souls were made to be content in God alone. In Psalm 16 David expresses contentment that is based, not on circumstances, but on the presence of the Lord. The psalm begins and ends with a confidence in the Lord’s presence — both now and eternally — and it is that confidence that leads to David’s contentment with both the Lord’s plans and provisions. He writes, in verses 5-6, that the Lord has "assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places." David’s beautiful statement begs me to ask myself if I can join David in expressing satisfaction with all God has planned and provided: am I satisfied with my portion, my cup, and my lot? Can I join him in expressing satisfaction for what the Lord has chosen to give as well as what he has withheld? It’s hard. I, all too often, find myself dissatisfied with what I do have and desiring what I don’t have. The plans and the provisions of the Lord rarely line up with what we think should be the plans and provisions for our lives. We long for what he withholds as we snub what he provides.
Contentment cannot be had if we try to make his plans and his provisions the source of our satisfaction. While there can be great joy in what the Lord plans and in what he provides, the source of our satisfaction has to be his very presence. When we don’t like the plan, his presence comforts and sustains us. When the provision is not what we were hoping for, it is his presence that gives us joy and peace. Our souls will never be satisfied with less than God himself.
This is an article I wrote for Women2Women, May, 2012.
For the full issue, go to http://storage.cloversites.com/kirkofthehills1/documents/W2W-May%202012.pdf