Are you tired of chasing after happiness, only to be disappointed time and time again? The buzz of a new pleasure, possession, or experience may be delightful, but it’s short lived, and it won’t be long before you’re chasing the next one to keep that buzz going.
Pursuing happiness is an intensely human endeavor, a quest we all embark on. We want to be satisfied, permanently, and at the deepest levels of our personhood. We all carry around with us a catalog of “if only” dreams:
“If only I had a better marriage or family life, then I’d be happy.”
“If only I got that promotion or achieved that success, then I’d be content.”
“If only I made this much money and could buy those things, then I’d be satisfied.”
Whatever sits on the other side of your “if only” statement is where you seek life, peace, joy, hope, contentment, and rest. But you know this to be true: After you check something off your “if only” list, it’s only a matter of time before you start to feel unsatisfied again and a new “if only” takes its place.
Could it be that we’re searching for satisfaction in all the wrong places? Could it be that what we’re asking to deliver happiness to us has no ability whatsoever to do that?
The Rollercoaster Ride of Satisfaction
I want you to imagine a scene with me. I have promised to take my kids to Disney World next year. We’ve started to spend time taking virtual tours on the website. We’ve watched videos of the rollercoasters and movies with their favorite characters. We’ve followed the theme park on social media and scrolled through countless pictures. The anticipation is building, the excitement palpable. We’ve made financial sacrifices throughout the year, and each time we forgo a purchase, I remind them we’re saving up for the ultimate vacation. “It will be worth it. There’s nothing like Disney World!”
Summer comes, and it’s finally time. As we’re driving the final leg of the long journey to get there, we see a sign that reads, “Disney World: 120 miles.” I pull the car over to the side of the road, park in the breakdown lane, and tell my family, “We’re here—vacation has begun!” You would think that I have lost my mind.
It’s an absurd scenario because you instinctively know that the sign is not what you seek. It’s not the ultimate destination, and it’s not what will give you satisfaction. The sign is placed to navigate you to what ultimately provides satisfaction. The sign is a giant finger pointing to the destination.
The reason we are unsatisfied is that we stop at the sign every single day.
Warning Signs from the Beginning
The Holy Bible begins with this statement: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Christian faith believes that there is one God, the Creator, who has existed from before the beginning of time. This artistic, powerful, and generous God created all the wondrous displays of sights, sounds, colors, textures, tastes, smells, and experiences in the world. Everything delightful you enjoy in this life exists because he loves you, allows you to experience delightful things, and wants to show off his indescribable glory. Everything he created is a sign to point you to him, the Creator. Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Everything good on earth is one big finger pointing to the one true and good God, but the good things on earth will never satisfy you because they were never designed to. Whatever sits on the other side of your “if only” statement might be pleasurable, but it cannot provide contentment, peace, meaning, and purpose. Only a relationship with God—who created you, loves you, and knows you—can do that. And he has placed his signs all over the roadways of your life so that you may see them, remember him, and pursue a relationship with your Creator.
The purpose of a sign is not to be your home but to point you to your final destination. If you are frustrated, angry, fearful, discouraged, anxious, or dissatisfied, could it be that you are stopping short at the sign and asking the sign to do what it was never designed to do? No wonder we feel so empty, with longings unfulfilled.
Hungry for More but Eating Less
In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ performed one of the most famous of all his miracles. A large crowd of at least five thousand people approached him, and Jesus, taking only five loaves of bread and two fish, astoundingly multiplied the food for everyone (with much left over!). The crowd was amazed by the power of Jesus and wanted him to perform more miracles. But Jesus disappeared and later explained to the crowd, “You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (John 6:26–27).
With these words, Jesus contrasts “food” that won’t satisfy with that heart-satisfying “food” that’s available to be found. It’s not that satisfaction is impossible to find; we’re just looking for it in the wrong places, asking the wrong sources to make us full.
What Jesus says next may be the most important thing a human being could ever hear. If you believe what Jesus says, it will change you and your life forever: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Jesus is declaring unequivocally that he is God and that a relationship with him is the only thing that can satisfy your soul.
Even though you may not know it or want to admit it, your daily pursuit of satisfaction is a quest for Jesus. The hunger that drives us, and the hunger that the “food” of this world has failed to satisfy, is actually a spiritual hunger to be in a relationship with the God who created us. This spiritual hunger has been hardwired in the soul of every human being; it is the essence of who we are. We were made to live for and in a relationship with God, not just to live aimlessly in the world he created. Physical, temporary “food” cannot satisfy our spiritual, eternal craving to be loved by God. We feel empty because we are looking for satisfaction horizontally (around us in the world) when it can only be found vertically (from God above).
The Satisfaction Solution
Why do we continue to chase after satisfaction from sources that leave us unsatisfied? The Bible says we all have a self-destructive instinct within us called sin. Sin exists in and infects the heart of every human, causing us to believe that we don’t need God and that we can produce satisfaction on our own. It tempts us to replace God with ourselves as the divine ruler of our lives. In the process, it drives us away from the only place where our hearts will finally find rest—in a relationship with God and God alone.
Thinking that we can rule our lives, we end up ruled by the delights we believe will satisfy us. Our pile of possessions sits as a monument to our discontentment. Our experiences tell the story of our dissatisfaction. Our locations are the stops along the way of a journey that has not ended well. We have tried to buy happiness, conquer pleasure, and manipulate people for selfish gain. It has not worked. We are left fat, addicted, in debt, lonely, discouraged, and disappointed, but still hoping that, perhaps tomorrow, satisfaction can be found in something new—somehow, someway.
It doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked. And it won’t work, no matter how you try differently. You can keep running, keep chasing, keep planning, keep working, keep acquiring, keep searching, and keep hoping. But you’ll end up unsatisfied again.
So what’s the solution to satisfaction? It’s not trying, experimenting, or buying more. The solution is surrender. Only when we give up on our ability to find contentment on our own, turn away from all the places we’ve been looking, and surrender to the God who placed this longing in our heart from the beginning will we discover a genuinely soul-satisfying life.
Look beyond the sign and see your Creator, admit that sin has left you hungry and empty, and surrender to Jesus. He died and rose again so you may have a satisfied soul, now and for eternity.
Today, Jesus invites you to experience ultimate satisfaction by living in a spiritual relationship with him. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” he says (Matthew 11:28). You don’t have to carry the burden of your unsatisfied heart any longer.
Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. (Isaiah 55:1–2, 6–7)
Now What?
If someone you know gave you this tract, it’s because he or she has found ultimate satisfaction in the Christian faith and wants you to experience the same. Engage in a conversation with him or her about the Bible and Jesus, asking questions like these:
What does the Christian faith believe?
What is the Bible?
What is sin?
What are the consequences for sin?
Who is Jesus?
How can I surrender to Jesus?
You can also consider these questions, either on your own or with a Christian:
What are some of the created pleasures (signs) I enjoy most?
Have I ever considered giving thanks to God for creating these pleasures?
Am I entitled to and demanding of these pleasures?
What happens when these pleasures are taken away?
How do I treat other people who interfere with my pleasure?
How long do these pleasures last before they start to fade?
Am I addicted to any pleasures?