Satisfaction

 January 13, 2022

It was 1965; more than fifty years ago, when Mick Jagger wailed “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” into a microphone. It’s no wonder; satisfaction cannot be found in any of the places he and Keith Richard’s were looking. Psalm 65:4 gives us the answer to their frustration: “We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, of your holy temple.”

Linda and I were out on an errand yesterday and after it was complete, we stopped at Frewsburg’s Emporium and Hallenback’s, both dealers in antiques and assorted old junk. Each had an assortment of nice old furniture and interesting odds and ends. Linda liked a set of “12 Days of Christmas” tumblers, but decided not to buy them. As we strolled through the shops, we talked of all the things we saw and how we needed none of it. We can appreciate nice things without owning them. We have enough…more than enough; so much that it would be sinful not to be generous with what God has placed in our hands. 

The word satisfaction has an interesting etymology. It comes from the Latin “to make enough,” with the same root as “satiate,” to be completely filled, even to overflowing. We are satisfied, not by the stuff of this world, but only by the house, the presence of the Lord who chose us and in his mysterious wisdom causes us to approach him. Amazing Grace!

Lord God Almighty, may our “more than enough” become “make enough” for others, for the poor and needy, for those who have never heard the Gospel. May we be avenues of grace, rivers of blessing that freely flow, releasing what we receive instead of holding on with grasping desperation, for it is only in giving that rivers remain fresh and clear. The river that flows the swiftest has the clearest water; the slower it releases what it has received, the more stagnant and muddy, till it becomes only a swamp. So may those whom you have satisfied become rivers of life to all.