In the "big picture" looking back at my experiences, I think I've felt most satisfied when I have answers to the questions Pastor Bill challenged us with on Sunday. When I feel loved, I feel satisifed. When I know what I'm doing has meaning to God, I feel satisifed. And when I know the purpose God has for me during a season of life, I am satisified.
But when I ask "what would satisify me at this very moment", I tend to answer that without considering my true soul cravings. Instead I focus on being satisified with my acheivements, stability, comfort, pleasure...all things that in the end provide fleeting satisifaction that changes with circumstances.
To that, I feel that God has been challenging me to quit trying to satisfy the longings He has placed in my heart with worldly pleasures that are short lived and instead run hard towards Him to be truly satisfied. I know it will be a hard run, but in the end, I trust it will be worth it!
Too often I have tried to satisfy the longing in my heart with wordly relationships and things instead of with God. When I rest in my relationship with God instead of constantly scrambling to take care of it myself, I find I have that peace that passes all understanding and I am satisified.
not having consistent meetings with God gets me off course quickly. i start focusing way too much on worldly things to get my instant satisfaction...amusement...entertainment...social connections...and acheivements at work when i'm not in touch with Him through prayer and reading scripture.
I agree. It is so easy to miss an opportunity with God. Not just the disciplines, but throughout the day. Then I get absorbed with self and before I know it. Searching for my own thing and not God's thing for me. For me, striving to breathe in and breathe out with God at the lead.
i feel most satisfied when i have reached out & shown love to someone - especially if it's someone who is in need. it's especially satisfying when i see the love of jesus calming someone though me - because in some situations i know it ain't me acting in that loving caring manner, it's gotta be God.
i agree that it's waaaaaaay too easy to allow worldly desires, concerns, dissappointments, etc. to take me off course from what really matters.
One time I did an exercise in a book that asks one to imagine that one is observing their own funeral and write down what one would like to hear others say about you. The point was that those things we want to hear others say about us after we are gone are the things we most truly value in life and that we should strive to fulfill those goals rather than all the worldly stuff we seek. It was a very revealing and important exercise in my growth - both as a person and as a christ follower.
This was a few years back and I still strive to be the person i saw in that exercise.
6 comments:
In the "big picture" looking back at my experiences, I think I've felt most satisfied when I have answers to the questions Pastor Bill challenged us with on Sunday. When I feel loved, I feel satisifed. When I know what I'm doing has meaning to God, I feel satisifed. And when I know the purpose God has for me during a season of life, I am satisified.
But when I ask "what would satisify me at this very moment", I tend to answer that without considering my true soul cravings. Instead I focus on being satisified with my acheivements, stability, comfort, pleasure...all things that in the end provide fleeting satisifaction that changes with circumstances.
To that, I feel that God has been challenging me to quit trying to satisfy the longings He has placed in my heart with worldly pleasures that are short lived and instead run hard towards Him to be truly satisfied. I know it will be a hard run, but in the end, I trust it will be worth it!
Too often I have tried to satisfy the longing in my heart with wordly relationships and things instead of with God. When I rest in my relationship with God instead of constantly scrambling to take care of it myself, I find I have that peace that passes all understanding and I am satisified.
What is the most consistent thing that gets you off course (God satisfiying you)?
not having consistent meetings with God gets me off course quickly. i start focusing way too much on worldly things to get my instant satisfaction...amusement...entertainment...social connections...and acheivements at work when i'm not in touch with Him through prayer and reading scripture.
I agree. It is so easy to miss an opportunity with God. Not just the disciplines, but throughout the day. Then I get absorbed with self and before I know it. Searching for my own thing and not God's thing for me. For me, striving to breathe in and breathe out with God at the lead.
i feel most satisfied when i have reached out & shown love to someone - especially if it's someone who is in need. it's especially satisfying when i see the love of jesus calming someone though me - because in some situations i know it ain't me acting in that loving caring manner, it's gotta be God.
i agree that it's waaaaaaay too easy to allow worldly desires, concerns, dissappointments, etc. to take me off course from what really matters.
One time I did an exercise in a book that asks one to imagine that one is observing their own funeral and write down what one would like to hear others say about you. The point was that those things we want to hear others say about us after we are gone are the things we most truly value in life and that we should strive to fulfill those goals rather than all the worldly stuff we seek. It was a very revealing and important exercise in my growth - both as a person and as a christ follower.
This was a few years back and I still strive to be the person i saw in that exercise.
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