Isaiah 55:8-11
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
If we depend on anything other than God for our happiness we will be disappointed. That amazing trip you planned years for is over in a blur and leaves you wondering “what now?” The big finish line you worked so hard to reach but after crossing the finish the victory fades pressing you into the next big challenge. Or what about the dream you poured your heart and soul into only to have it die before your very eyes….
Dreams are great, plans are good, goals are important, but if they don’t line up with what God has planned for you they will far short, way short. There is nothing wrong with taking an amazing vacation, as long as you are being financially responsible and can truly afford it. There is nothing wrong with setting a big goal and accomplishing it, but it should glorify God. Nothing wrong with a little adventure, but if you are expecting these things to give you lasting happiness you will end up being disappointed. True fulfillment comes from serving the LORD. He is our provider, He is the only drink that satisfies! Every thing we do can be an act of worship, it all depends on your willingness to let God lead you down the path He has for your life. God gives us dreams and ambitions when we seek Him and His direction. When we follow what He has put in our heart we will accomplish more that we ever imagined!
When you do something fully for yourself it won’t be long until the excitement wears off, before the victory fades away, before the thrill is all but gone. Just like me expecting my husband to make me happy is not only unrealistic, its unfair to him. Does he bring me happiness, of course, but does he let me down, from time to time-yes. He was not put on this earth to satisfy my needs! He was put here to serve God, and part of that service is caring for and loving me, but my needs, my purpose, my joy must come from God alone.
I’ve crossed my fair share of finish lines but the only one that I really remember was the marathon I ran for God alone. Its not the race that brings a smile to my face, it was the way that God filled my heart and carried me those 26.2 miles that makes it such awesome experience. Only in service, only in faith, only with God can we truly be complete! I will say it again, EVERYTHING we do can and should be an act of worship. You don’t need special skills, God has created you to serve in your own special way. You don’t need an education to be useful to God, just pick up your Bible and spend some time seeking the wisdom that He alone can give us! Everyone was created to serve, and we all have the choice to do what we were created for or make our own way. Sometimes we seek to fill the void with the the wrong things; drugs, sex, alcohol, food, exercise, adventure, etc. but these things leave an even bigger hole. God alone is what we crave and the moment we put Him in the rightful place in our hearts we begin to see nothing else measures up!
I will give you an example from my life. My eyes we really opened up to these things when I faced the reality of my weight loss goals. I had set a number and a jean size and I wanted it, I wanted it bad! I truly believed that if I could reach 140lbs and a size 6 that I would be completely satisfied with myself. What I didn’t see was that I was setting myself up for not only failure, but painful backsliding in thinking that something as arbitrary and temporary as a weight or jean size could satisfy what I was “hungering for.” Well I did reach 140lbs and I do wear a size 6 but the body looking back at me in the mirror hadn’t changed in my eyes (in spite of losing over 40lbs). The disappointment of feeling like I had gone so far for nothing caused me to temporarily give up and I managed to gain back 10lbs. I'm so happy that I gained this weight back. It made me realize that I was reaching for something that was not supposed to be my focus! Yes, its good to get healthy. Yes, I need to lose some of my extra weight, but that should never change how I feel about myself! I am now able to not have the scale deeply impact my heart and my attitude, because I realize that what size I am has nothing to do with who I am. I did see that me binging on food was my new drug of choice and it was causing me pain. It left me feeling guilty, angry, and completely disgusted with myself after a binge. I was trying to stuff food in a hole that needed to be filled with God! More important than losing that 10lbs again, is to finally be free of the power food and a negative body image have had over my life for far to long. I will continue this journey to be healthy not so I can look a certain way, but that I can be who God created me to be, someone who depends on Him alone to supply my needs! Every thing we do should be an act of worship! My perspective and view of myself is what needs to be changed so that my fulfillment comes from my relationship with God and nothing else! I share this part of my journey only as an example of how the enemy uses many weapons against us, to try to beat us down and weaken our faith but He cannot win if we put all of our hope in the Lord!
Isaiah 54:17
no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.
The enemy is a LIAR! Nothing in this world can satisfy us! I dont care how much money you have, it will never be enough. I don’t care how many nice things you own, they cannot satisfy your heart. I don’t care if you travel to every nation of the world and see the wonders of this amazing creation, it will not fulfill your deepest desires. The only thing that will quench the yearning of your heart is to let God fill it with His love, His purpose, and His plan! There is a yearning in all of our hearts, it was put there on purpose. That yearning is where God wants to dwell, until He is the only thing we desire!
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