The God That Satisfies

(Written December 20th, 2010)

  Literally about three minutes ago I was rinsing an apple off and thinking to myself, “Don’t you hate it when you’re hungry, and you just keep eating…but you’re still hungry?” I turned the water off, grabbed a knife, and turned to the cutting board.

  A suggestion entered my mind- not really a thought, but a suggestion, “What if you asked God to satisfy you?”

  It was one of those moments when I casually say, “Holy Spirit! What’s up? Nice of you to show up, but I didn’t really ask your opinion on this, I was just talking to myself.” I was about to dismiss the suggestion, when the Holy Spirit said a little more insistently, “No, really- what if you asked God to satisfy you?”

  The apple was on the cutting board, the knife in my hand. I lifted the knife to slice the apple- I was hungry, and I wanted something to eat.

  “What if it worked?”

  I abruptly walked away from the counter, set the apple back in the fruit basket, put the knife away, and said to myself, “Alright, God, be my satisfaction. Will You satisfy me?”

  I proceeded to wash a few dishes, thinking about how remarkable it would be if, as the Holy Spirit had said, it worked. What if God really would satisfy my hunger? What if I didn’t need to eat every time I felt like a snack, but instead just spent some time with my Lord? It could change my life.

  And then I began thinking about other aspects of my life. What if God satisfied everything within me, everything about me? What if every time I heard a song I liked I didn’t feel the need to go buy it and put it on my ipod right away, because I was satisfied? What if I didn’t feel the need or desire to buy every cool thing I saw in the store, because I was satisfied? What if my God satisfied my desires, and the human tendencies that I currently give in to suddenly became less important, lesser priorities?

  What if I didn’t buy the Switchfoot Christmas pack for fifty dollars, but instead donated the money I would have spent on myself?

  I wrestled with this for a few minutes. I really want that Christmas pack. Every single year, right around late November or early December when the Switchfoot Christmas pack comes out, I want it. Every year there is something great and wonderful in it that I feel I need to complete my Switchfoot collection of awesomeness. One more signed Christmas postcard to tack up on my wall, one more t-shirt to add to my closet, one more sticker pack or set of buttons.

  Now, there is nothing wrong with any of those things. There is nothing wrong with the fact that I like Switchfoot and want to support them, there is nothing wrong with me wanting their new EP that hasn’t even been released yet (oh my gosh, I’ve been waiting a long time for it, too)- but there IS something wrong with me thinking I NEED those things. I don’t need them.

  I need God, but I don’t need Switchfoot merch.

  Will I be happy and content for the rest of my life if I get that EP? Of course not!

  No material item will ever satisfy me for the rest of my life. There will always be the iphone 5 or the iphone 253, the mascara that makes your lashes not only thicker and longer but also able to play music. There will always be some other video game that is bigger and better than the one before- yes, better than Black Ops, boys- or some pair of jeans that will make me skinnier, tanner, and a better dancer. I will never have it all, because as soon as I think I do, someone will create something better.

  I could buy a smart phone or a smart car or a house that makes me my toast in the morning, but I’ve read Ray Bradbury’s books so I know better- and even if I didn’t I know that without the wisdom of the Lord all intelligence cannot help me, electronic or not.

  What if my God was the God that satisfies? He is- I know that He is…but what if I let Him satisfy me?

  What if I not only asked Him to satisfy me, but I also started pushing back all the things that I think will satisfy me? What if I rebuked the idea that Taco Bell could make me happy, chocolate could mend a broken heart, and a nicer car could make people like me better?

  What if I let God satisfy me?

  What if you let God satisfy YOU?

  Our worlds would change. Well, our lives would change. And every day you wake up, every day you’re alive, you change the world. That’s a Switchfoot quote, and I believe it- I believe I change the world every day, sometimes by omission. What if I changed the world by letting God be my satisfaction, instead of relying on the hollow promises of happiness this world has to offer?

  I am going to go eat that apple now. Not because God could not satisfy an empty stomach. But because I see what He was getting at- this wasn’t about the apple, this was about the lesson behind the apple. This is about me denying myself what I think that I “need” and instead turning to the one thing I do truly need- my Lord.

  Remember this the next time you eat an apple. Remember that it will not satisfy you.