The Secret to Living a Satisfied Life

Be honest with me (or really, with yourself)– Are you satisfied with your life right now?

If you said yes, then good for you!

But if not, and I’m guessing most of you aren’t completely satisfied with your life, then you are in good company. According to the World Happiness Report, “the pandemic’s toll on negative emotions is clear”. Many people in the world are very unhappy these days. Perhaps it’s due to searching for employment, struggling to be in good health, or just a genuine feeling of discouragement. Whatever is causing this your discontentment, I hope to bring you some encouragement.

Have you ever re-tried a food from your childhood and realized it didn’t taste anything like what you remembered? When I was a kid, I loved the white cheddar puff snack called Pirate’s Booty. (I still remember joking about the name with my friends). Years later, I tried the Trader Joe’s version of this snack, called more professionally “White Cheddar Puffs”. And let me tell you– there’s no going back. I tried Pirate’s Booty again and there wasn’t even a competition. While I could (confession time!) devour a bag of Trader Joe’s snack in a day or two, it took me weeks before the Pirate’s Booty was consumed. Once we know what’s better, there’s no going back, right? We only want the really good stuff.

A lot of times we tell ourselves that once we have ____, then we’ll be satisfied. Maybe you fill in the blank with being in a relationship, feeling represented, not falling into the same temptations, etc. Those things have deeper roots: love, justice, wisdom, joy. Love and justice are particularly longed for these days. And those are all good things, great things in fact. Things that are necessary for our lives.

But I stumbled upon this verse the other day that stopped me in my tracks.

But you must return to your God;

    maintain love and justice,

    and wait for your God always.

Hosea 12:6

Before we can have love and justice, and pretty much any other necessary aspect of life, we need God first. Until we seek God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we will not feel content with our lives. We’ve been taught that it’s wrong to ache for something greater, but that’s just natural. Listen to that ache, and instead of turning to something temporary, turn to God. God is the only One who can fill that empty place in our lives.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Once you get that job, relationship, or whatever it is you currently desire, you aren’t going to feel content. You will just move on to the next need. Nothing on Earth can truly satisfy us. But when you place your entire life into God’s hands, no matter what you are going through, you won’t lack anything. And the best part of it is that we can turn to God at any time! We don’t have to wait for someone to approve of us or for the world to reform. God is ready and willing to love you right now. He already does. All He’s waiting for is you to accept His call.

And when you place God at the center of your life instead of worldly goals, there’s no going back. You won’t even want to go back, because you will finally feel that contentment and peace your heart’s been longing for. You know, the really good stuff.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Matthew 22:37