CAN'T GET NO... SATISFACTION

Exodus 15:19-17:7; Matthew 22:1-33; Psalm 27:1-6; Proverbs 6:20-26

“Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.  It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.  He said, ‘If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.’”

“The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? …The one thing I ask of the Lord —
the thing I seek most — is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.
 For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.  Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.  At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.”

We humans are a tough crowd.  No sooner does God lead us out of one hardship than we begin complaining about the new situation.  The Spirit provides more than enough but directs us to just take what we need, and to share.  We immediately begin hoarding.  We so fixate on security that even blessings become a curse.  No glass is too full.  When it comes down to it, we flatly reject the adventure of reliance on God in favor of almost any more immediately tangible asset.  Exodus (and really, the whole Old Testament) is not only history; it’s a mirror through which Christ wants us to look at ourselves.  In it, I see much of myself, and I am ashamed.  But there’s something else to consider, even more important: all this discontent, this insatiable drive for tangible security, this unceasing mental striving, just wears me out. 

I actually may be starting to understand something: burnout doesn’t come from physical exhaustion.  Burnout comes from a loss of enthusiasm.  For instance, it really is not much of a problem to stay up late at night doing what I am excited about (like this).  But focused on the drudgery of everyday life (not manna again!), I’m in bed before the nightly news even begins!  There has got to be a better way, something more to life that actually has some staying power. 

David, at least in his better moments, got it right.  Psalm 27 is a masterpiece of documented contentment.  It represents the essence of what it means to abide in God.  There is true sanctuary in the house of the Lord, precisely because that is where renewed enthusiasm for the entire adventure of life is to be found.  That’s why we need to stay close to our spiritual home, no matter what our physical home or circumstance.  That’s why, when God asks us to move, it’s always in His direction.  Outside His Will, there just isn’t much hope for lasting satisfaction, because there’s no hope for lasting enthusiasm.

“Enthusiasm” actually comes from the Greek word meaning “possessed by God.”  (One of my favorite tidbits of theologic trivia!)  True enthusiasm, then, leads to satisfaction because it’s all about God working through us, completing us and empowering us.  Enthusiasm makes us better that we were, often better than we thought we could be.  It’s a great motivator.  Thinking back to yesterday, it even gives us reason and desire to move.  And helps our ability to do so.  I want, and need, God to substitute His enthusiasm for my discontentment.