“Life is full of disappointments.” As cynical and cliché as this sounds, it is an understatement regarding the life we live in the flesh. After all, we were originally created to live with God and walk with Him in the cool of the day in a perfect and blissful garden.
We were meant to live in perfect peace—peace with God, peace within ourselves, peace with each other. And we were made to live forever; death is an unwelcome guest, a thief who breaks in and steals.
That is why our earthly pleasures and pursuits disappoint us: they do not live up to what we were made for. Times of leisure are hemmed in behind and before with nagging cares and concerns. Plans for the future often fail, and sometimes even our most hopeful expectations fail to bear fruit. Even our most prized material possessions are never numerous enough or of sufficiently high quality to please us:
“Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.”
But Jesus, in rescuing us from our sin, gives us a new life and a new set of desires that will not be denied. He causes us to find contentment in our temporal estate, and to look forward to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us. He proves Himself faithful and reliable in a way that no other earthy commodity can boast:
“His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
He creates a spiritual appetite for what is truly important in life:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
And He promises to be both the source and fulfillment of our every desire:
“All my springs are in you.”
Thank you, Jesus, for filling my poor soul with desires that You alone can satisfy! When all else fails, You will never disappoint me:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”