Never Satisfied

6/19/2010 - Never Satisfied

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  Genesis 2:16-17 KJV


Why is it that no matter how much we have we still want more?  It seems like a never ending quest.  No matter how many things I have that I have prayed for, labored for or received, it is just not enough.  The media convinces us that there is so much more available to us if we would just go get it.  They convince us that these things are necessary to live.  We live in a society that is never satisfied with what we have.  But this is not unique to just our society.  This has been true of mankind from the beginning of time.

God gave Adam free reign to eat from any tree of the garden except one.  And by eating from that one, he would die.  And sure enough, that is exactly what happened.  God gives us so much.  We have more than enough of what we need to live and live well.  Yet our hearts if not turned towards God will cause us to see that one thing we do not have and focus our attention on that.  That one thing that we desire yet don’t yet have.  The one thing that it seems that God is withholding from us.  That one thing that makes us think that God is not treating us fairly.  And when we seek to obtain that which we seem to think God is withholding, we eat of it and die. 

This plays out for us in our relationships.  No mater how much we have with our present relationship, we seem to focus on the one thing that is missing.  And when we try to obtain that one thing that is missing from another source, what we have dies.  How many good relationships have been destroyed because of the perceived lack of one thing?  How many people have gotten their hearts broken because their partner sought the one thing it seemed they desired above all else they already possessed? How many hearts have been turned away from the abundance of what they have in pursuit of what they think they do not?

Financially speaking, how many of us have turned away from the blessing we already have to pursue the desire for what we do not?  How many times have we forsaken our present God-given present circumstances for the pursuit of what we see others having. We are not satisfied with our present home, so we do everything we can to get another one.  Our present car is not up to date enough so we go and finance another one even when our credit is bad.  We take second jobs in order to keep the lifestyle we have instead of downsizing. And the pursuit of these things seem to kill what we already have.  The grass always looks greener on the other side.  There will always be somebody with more than you.  There will always, in this world be the allure of more possessions, more wealth, more fame, more fortune.  It may seem as though God is being unfair to you by not releasing to you what it appears exists for others.

And yet, God is not withholding anything from us.  He gives us everything we need in its time.  The option to try to pursue what you think He is withholding from you through other means will only lead to destruction.  Jesus knew that all things have a process.  He was both God and man and yet went through a process to obtain all power.  He came to earth as a child and went through His own process, just like us.  He was tempted in the wilderness to try to speed up the process of what God was going to give Him.  The devil tempted Him in this way.  Maybe the devil is tempting you the same way.  Maybe he is trying to get you to speed up the process of obtaining what God already intends to give you.  Maybe he is trying to convince you that it will never be yours unless you go do something right now.

Don’t believe the hype. God has already promised that you will lack nothing in Him.  God has already promised that this thing will come to pass.  Do not try to make it happen by your own means when your responsibility is simply to trust Him.  You have so many things to be thankful for right here and right now.  By trying to focus on the one thing you may not have, you will only cause more harm than good.  And what you do have is your connection to the creator of the universe who knows all, possesses all, and can do all things. You have a relationship to a God who hears your prayers.  You have a God who cares about you. Stay true to your hope in God and allow Him to provide all of your needs and even your desires.  Eat from the trees that have already been provided.  And trust Him to give you what you truly desire.  Do not allow an enemy to convince you that God is not to be trusted.  Do not allow an enemy to tempt you to speed up the process.  Let God give you all things according to their divine timing.