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The Satisfied Soul

by Sheila Dougal  
1/27/2007 / Devotionals

"Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house not a creature was thankful, just constant whining and pout..."


Today, my kids were whining from the moment they got up, and by 7am I was fed up. I went to lock myself in the bathroom for a moment of silence and read, the day after Christmas was actually declared National Whiners Day by some Reverend back in 1986. His point was to promote the conscious awareness of the overabundance of unthankful- ness, despite all the gifts and goodies we'd all just received at Christmas. When I read this Proverb and it really hit me.... my kids are so overly stuffed with goodies and toys, they can't enjoy anything. So I decided to literally take ALL the toys out of their rooms, turn off the T.V., put away all snacks and sweat out the withdrawals my kids were about to experience. The most awesome day I've had with my kids in a long time followed.

For the first couple hours there were some crying objections to me being such a cruel mom, but after awhile they were acting like kids full of life again, instead of kids full of junk. We did chores, went to the gym, read books, took a nap, went for a hike and really enjoyed each other, all without one single toy, TV. show, or piece of candy. By the end of the day my 3 year old was saying, "That was a good fun Mom! I do that again?"

As I was thinking about this and talking with my kids about it all day, I realized we as adults, just like my kids, are way too easily satisfied with short-lived toys, shows and snacks. Oh, ours are bigger, more expensive, and more sophisticated we think, but really they are just more deceptive traps. It's not that we want too much, it's that we don't want enough. We're too easily satisfied.

We stuff ourselves with good food, the "harmless" vices getting us through, conveniences which make our lives "easier," people who tell us what we want to hear, etc. We surround ourselves and feast ourselves on the short-lived pleasures of life, and we don't realize we've fallen for the waste when there's a whole banquet just waiting for us to dive into.

"What are you talking about Sheila? I'm not that superficial, yeah, I enjoy the pleasures like the next guy, but I'm good to my family, I love the important times together and the relationships in my life are most important to me!" All I'm saying is, like kids after Christmas, we in this society are so overly satiated with pleasures, toys, and treats, we're missing out on the food of the soul which really satisfies. We're too full to hunger for God's soul-food. We've fallen for the "sweets" of pleasures in this life, not realizing they're just convenient, tasty traps.

Do the pleasures you enjoy rule you? If you don't have that thing, or meal, or car, or person in your life will your soul cry out in hunger? If that person doesn't measure up, or that job turns out to be a real hassle, or that dream ends up a nightmare are you going to find yourself protesting in hunger for some real satisfaction? If so, those seemingly harmless pleasures rule you, and you'll never know the ecstasy of real pleasure until only One food satisfies, One Person brings you comfort, and One relationship really brings you pleasure.

When you seek the satisfaction of your soul in God's word, friendship with Him, and in serving Him with a head-over-heals-in-love response, you are the most free, rich, and pleased person in the world. Nothing, and no one, can truly satisfy your soul other than a relationship with God through Jesus. Everything and everyone else will make you a slave. You'll be dependent upon it or their presence or performance in your life, and eventually the sweetest flavor, and best performance won't satisfy.

If you feed on God's presence, and His word, even the bitter things He brings your way; trials, trouble, hard-times, even those things will be sweet to you. Why? Because your soul will be solely dependent on Him, and no one else. You'll be so free, that even the hard things won't rule you. If the circumstances in your life are pleasant and sweet, well, that'll be enjoyable, but you won't be dependent on them. In fact you'll find that whatever pleasures this life brings, just won't be enough. You'll always know the taste of the supernatural goodness of God, and everything else will pale. When the trials come, and they will, you'll know the taste of the goodness of God so well, though the cup you may have to drink is bitter it'll be sweet because of God's faithful goodness. He's always good!

"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Oh how happy is the man who trusts in Him!" Psalm 34:8

Sheila Dougal is a 32 year old wife and mother living in Goodyear, Arizona with her husband James and their two sons. She enjoys serving in the women's and children's ministries at her local church, and writing on her website www.wifeofvalor.com.

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