Call Me Satisfied!
Meditation for the week of October 28, 2012
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
(Psalms 107:8-9)
Have you ever been out hiking on a hot day when you ran across a stream of clear cool water coming out of a rock formation? Do you remember how satisfying it was when you put out your hands; and, after letting the water cleanse them, you put some of that water to your mouth? There is just nothing like a clear cool drink provided by our Creator on a hot day, is there? But wait, some of us carry something better with us now. It may be Gatorade or some energy drink, but for many of us water provided by our Creator just does not satisfy any more. Yet the Lord said that the water that He gives will satisfy forever (John 4:13-14). But does it really?
When the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, they came to the Red Sea and the Lord used the Red Sea to separate them forever from the Egyptians who wanted to enslave them. The Red Sea opened up for the Israelites and closed over the Egyptians. The Israelites were miraculously delivered, but after being delivered they were hungry and thirsty. Then the Lord miraculously gave them water and manna. The manna was bread from heaven. In Exodus 16:31, we are told that manna tasted like wafers made with honey. In other words, it was almost good enough to be dessert. They ate that bread for nearly 40 years and at the end of the 40 years they thought that this manna tasted like pastry made with oil (Numbers 11:8). They were tired of it and they wanted some of the stuff that stinks that they had eaten in the land of Egypt (leeks, onions and garlic). The Lord tells us that He is the true bread the comes down from heaven In John 6:35 Jesus says to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” But is our hunger and thirst really satisfied?
I can identify with the children of Israel. They were a people who experienced great miracles but never expected the next one. They were bored with their lives in the wilderness, they were bored with their miraculous food, and they were bored with their miraculous water. They forgot what the burden of Egypt was like and how it felt to be liberated from that bondage. They started looking back instead of looking forward, but in looking back they forgot the burdens and only remembered the pleasures. They kept asking the “what if” questions. What if we lose our jobs? What if gas goes to $5.00/gal? What if I lose my health insurance and get sick? When we begin asking the “what if” questions and when we begin to look backward and not forward, when we begin to look down instead of up, when we begin to look at and compare ourselves to others who seem to have it better, we are in danger of expecting men to help us rather than the Lord. We won’t lose our salvation, but we will lose our power, our joy and our strength. Jeremiah says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man.” He also says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.” (See Jeremiah 17:5-7.) Is the Lord really the One Who satisfies?
Paul kept looking forward, not backward. He said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).” We need to remember what it was like when we were unsaved, without God and without hope. We need to remember that our journey as Christians is an adventure with the Lord and that when we follow where He leads, there is excitement and joy when we see His protecting care and mercy to us in this life. There may be times when the journey becomes long and the food become boring, but I will take that to the stinking garlic of Egypt any day.
People are different. When my wife and I go out to eat, I want to buy something that I know I will like. She likes to buy something “different” that she hasn’t tried before. I understand that we are all different, but when it comes to spiritual things, I will take the tried and true over the exciting and new any day. Call me boring if you want. But you will also have to call me satisfied.
Bruce Collins