Only Jesus Satisfies

Many people I come across today- whether as a patient, congregant, friend, or family member- seem to realize an emptiness inside of them. There is a sense of unfulfillment, maybe even despite apparent success. I recognize this inside of others because it's familiar to me - I once struggled with it too. 

I seemed to have it all on the surface - new job, high earnings, beautiful family, new car, new house. It seemed like all the goals I set out to achieve were accomplished. However, I was left with an intense feeling of "now what?". Even though many would look at this scenario and call it success, it sure didn't feel like success on the inside. Something was missing. Something was left empty.

Over the course of time, I began to focus my energy on my faith- because that was the one area I knew wasn't as much of a priority as it should be. I tried hard to live the life I read about in the Bible. I tried to obey the commands of God. However, as the saying goes: "you don't know how bad you are until you try to be good". It seemed like the more I tried to live more Christlike, the more I was made aware of just how UN-Christlike I actually was. This was one of the most frustrating times of my life, as I had been used to trying hard and succeeding- yet this endeavor was anything but successful.

What the Lord began to show me was that I was trying to fill my biggest need with things that can never satisfy that need. St. Augustine (and others) have worded this condition like this: there is a God-sized hole or void in each of our lives that only He can fill. The problem comes when we try to fill that void with other things: careers, families, money, stuff, etc. Even good things can become problematic when we ask them to do something they were never meant to do. When we attempt to make the good things in life the ultimate thing in life, we struggle. We flail. We feel empty. We feel unfulfilled and unsatisfied. The reason? Because ONLY JESUS satisfies! HE is our greatest need - and ONLY He can fill that hole inside of us. 

So I began to try to get to know the Lord better. Rather than trying to live out a list of rules, commands, and lists from the Bible- I sought to KNOW the God of the Bible. I began to focus on relationship, rather than ritual. This didn't take place overnight, but over the months that followed what I discovered was that this was the missing piece of my life. Yes, there were plenty of flaws and issues that needed to be dealt with - but an actual daily, moment-by-moment relationship with my Savior was what I was lacking in my core being. Learning to surrender my life daily to His will has led to a deeper knowledge of the Lord, and a deeper satisfaction in my soul than I've ever known before.

What is it that you may be using to fill the God-sized hole in your life?
Remember this: ONLY JESUS SATISFIES!