Satisfied

I've been thinking so much about what it means to be truly satisfied. I can look back through my life and pick out so many things I pursued that I thought would satisfy...but they all came up short. Relationships, money, possessions....none of these things satisfied me completely. Temporarily, yes. But not completely and without fault. The only thing that can offer that kind of satisfaction is Jesus Christ. Knowing Him. Loving Him. Glorifying Him. To quote John Piper, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him".

Psalm 90: 14

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (I love this one...when I meet with Him early in the morning, I am filled and satisfied all day. I am much more able to resist the temptations of this world!).Psalm 145: 15-17 15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Over and over, He says that HE will satisfy our needs. But in a culture that screams so loudly about how we'll never be satisfied without more money, more stuff, more square footage...it's no wonder we are distracted to the point of forgetting His promise.

If we take Jesus at his Word, and start trusting that He will give us all that we need...why do we need to pursue all the things that the world pursues?

Piper has this to say about it:

If Christ is an all-satisfiying treasure and promises to provide all our needs, even through famine and nakedness, then to live as though we had all the same values as the world would betray him. I have in mind mainly how we use our money and how we feel about our possessions. I hear the haunting words of Jesus, "Do not be anxious, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things" (Matthew 6:31-32). In other words, if we look like our lives are devoted to getting and maintaining things, we will look like the world, and that will not make Christ look great. He will look like a religious side-interest that may be useful for escaping hell in the end, but doesn't make much difference in what we live and love here. He will not look like an all-satisfying treasure. And that will not make others glad in God.

What would happen if every Christian lived a life that "looked different" than the world? Would it be possible to live lives like those in the early Church? To live in complete community and share all that we have?

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. *Acts 4:32-35

There were NO needy persons among them?! Amazing. The thing is, if everyone just shared what they had today, the same would be true. There is more than enough to go around...enough for the entire world. I know I'm thinking crazy thoughts...but it's good to think about such things.

No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had?! Wow. Think about how much crime and hatred is the result of jealousy of someone else's possessions. How caught up we get in determining what is mine and what is yours. Lawsuits, wars, divorces...

When we release our possessions and recognize that everything we have comes from Christ and belongs ultimately to Him, it's much easier to have a loose grip on it all. We are just stewards of everything God has given us...none of it is OURS anyway. They are His to do with what He wants. It's much easier to be satisfied when you take the distraction of possessions out of the picture. Jesus loved talking about money the poor. Fifteen percent of all His teaching revolves around those topics. I used to just skip over those passages apparently, because it wasn't until I went deliberately searching that I realized how much Jesus wants us to take care of the needy. Lastly, I will leave you with one last passage from Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life". It's such a great reminder that although we should be salt and light and be "attractive" to others in order to win hearts to Christ, we also must be wary of becoming to comfortable in the "world".

I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call earth "home". Before you know it, I am calling luxuries "needs" and using my money the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget the war. I don't think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached peoples drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace. I sink into a secular mindset that looks first to what many can do, not what God can do. It is a terrible sickness.

A very convicting reminder...we are in this world but not of it. Do you look different? I'm going to leave it at that, and let you ponder. If you've never read of heard John Piper, I urge you to check him out. It's deep stuff for sure, but well worth your time.

Be satisfied!

Wanting

Wanting: \Want"ing\, a. Absent; lacking; missing; also, deficient; destitute; needy During the holiday season, it is very easy to feel like our current possessions are "lacking" and "deficient". Everywhere you turn, there is an advertisement for this or that. Even though you may only hear them in passing, they do affect you deeply. The advertisements are created to MAKE you feel want...like you are "less" if you don't rush out and purchase their item. Or, during this season, you are less if you don't rush out and purchase it for your friend, spouse, child, etc.

Recently, I took my grandma to the mall because she wanted to get some gift certificates for Christmas. I hadn't been out to walk the mall in a long time...and I found it completely overwhelming. The people, the noise, the bright and shiny objects! I started to find myself looking in the windows ... and feeling that WANTING that I so hate. I was in the mall for literally 5 minutes or less, and in that little space of time, the sirens sucked me in. I walked out chanting to myself "look straight ahead, there is nothing you need"! I am so glad I don't have to deal with that anymore this season!

I started to think about other ways that WANT is created in my life. I have discussed this before, but it's worth doing it again. It's an ongoing battle, and if you don't think about it and how it happens, it will control you.

I started with my email inbox. I went through and unsubscribed from every single newsletter, update, etc. that I receive. I was astounded at how many businesses/spammers have my email. It took several hours to complete this, and I am still doing "maintenance" unsubscribing daily. I needed to do this because there are several really fun crafty sites that I get updates for...and even though they are homemade, ethical, etc, I do not need them. Opening those emails only creates want. Having less emails makes me spend less time at the computer and have less distraction in general. I also unsubscribed from several discussion groups that I just didn't have time to read. From now on, I will make a point to be more protective of my email address. I know that spammers can get it without me knowing, but I will do all that I can.

The other "tool of wanting" that I've been thinking about lately is the TV. I know that most of you will agree with me on this one...but I want to talk about a certain genre in particular that I used to find harmless. The two channels that I used to give myself "permission" to watch, HGTV and TLC, are experts in creating want not just in their advertising but within the programming. What?! Say it isn't so! Yes. Think with me for a moment.

"Dream House", "I Want That", "National Open House"...these are three programs that create want in myself when I watch them. Basically, when you are looking over and over at lifestyles, people, and possessions that don't align with your values or your budget, it will only leave you "wanting". When you see "excess" as the norm, your standards and expectations start to change. The same principle applies to reading gossip magazines (i.e. People, Us, etc.). If you read it enough, focus on it enough, and desire to KNOW and imitate other's lifestyles enough...you will continue to WANT.

On TLC, there is a show called "What Not to Wear". The hosts go into someone's closet, basically tell them what a horrible dresser they are and how ugly they look, and they throw away (donate?) all of their clothes and give them $5,000 to go shopping for a new wardrobe. First of all, clothing is an extremely emotional and personal choice. When you come in an dissect someone's wardrobe, it's traumatizing. Secondly, I could buy a whole army a wardrobe with $5,000 (does anyone else think that is insane?!). With that said, I can see how it sucks people in because I used to be very entertained by it. But when I would watch them go shopping, I started to wish that I could just go on a shopping spree like that. I WANTED to be them. TV turns you into a happy little consumer.

John Piper, one of my favorite pastors and authors, calls TV the "great life-waster". He has this to say in his book "Don't Waste Your Life":

"The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem. Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you're watching. The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God. Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV. The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels."

So, there you have it. In addition to creating WANT, watching TV turns you into a shallow idiot. Turn it off! (Please don't tell me that TV is educational. Get out there and LIVE life instead of learning about it on your TV).

I want to stop wanting. Looking back at the definition...I am not lacking, missing, deficient, or in need of anything. The only thing I am in "need" of is God's grace and forgiveness daily. I want to be satified by Christ alone.

*photo courtesy of davepatten/flickr.com

Compact Lessons

It's been 46 days since I took the Compact pledge. It has been a interesting experiment in self-discovery...I have learned so much about myself and my spending habits. A few things...

• It feels so good to NOT buy something after having the urge to do so. Realizing that I actually demonstrated self-control is exciting.
• Shopping at Goodwill is fun. It's much more exhilerating to find the exact item I need at a thrift store...than to just run into Target and walk right to it. Less convenient, yes..but more fun.
• I can overspend just as easily at thrift stores as I can in Target.
• I am extremely senstitive to how I am feeling when looking at advertisements. I can take the time now to dissect those emotions and realize that they are constructed.
• There have been several times when I've thought, "I would have totally bought that if I wasn't Compacting!". I started to add up all those things I kept saying that about...and it was several hundred dollars. It's a great feeling to save that money instead of spend it on things that I wouldn't want a few hours later anyway.
• Doing the Compact seems to make some people upset & confused. Like the fact that I am actually THINKING about my purchases throws their whole existance out of whack. Apparently, compacting is very threatening.
• I haven't found it to be particularly difficult to buy used, barter/trade, or make do. It's been great!

I have especially enjoyed finding Christmas gifts this year. I thought that it might be difficult, because I am usually a Christmas Eve "hurry up and buy anything!" kind of shopper. Total procrastination. I am happy to say that I am almost done shopping for everyone on my list! Here's to 319 more happy days of Compacting!