God Sees the Big Picture

Dear friends of mine, sequestered like the rest of us, found that putting a jigsaw puzzle together is a great way to make the most of this at-home time. They chose a 1,000 smaller-pieces puzzle. Far more challenging than 500-pieces like I usually choose! They started off all gung ho – displaying on FB when they completed the frame. I know how that feels as my family and I are puzzle fans also. Getting the frame completed gives the foundation for completing the rest.

It’s usually at Christmas that we’re all-in with getting a puzzle put together. It’s displayed on a table area or kitchen island. We can’t help ourselves – every time we walk past that area, we have to stop and find at least one piece. Such satisfaction comes finding that piece that opens the door for other pieces to pop in. And then the big ta-da – when someone gets to put in the last piece. Oh, the thrill of accomplishment!

But, not so, for my friends. The last piece was never found. She said: “Aargghh! We have one missing puzzle piece. How is that possible?!?” Her husband said: “We finally finished the puzzle, only to find there is a missing piece! 😖 Still enjoyed it enough that we have already ordered another.” Their frustration didn't stop them from carrying on.

And, so it is with us – we don’t let disappointments stop us! My friends had the box lid which showed the 1,000-piece puzzle – all completed. And, we want God to show us our lives: “Please, Lord, show me how this situation – this time of isolation – this time of fear – this time of worry and uncertainty – this time of disappointment – PLEASE show me how it’s going to turn out! I don’t want it to end up with missing pieces.” In real life and in puzzles, God works all things together for good -- but He has a perfect way, a perfect plan, and a perfect time, and He will not be rushed. He just asks us to trust Him.

The outside-of-the-box puzzle picture gives us hope for the finished product. But, it sure seems overwhelming when we first dump out all the pieces on the table. Similarly, we love the picture God presents in His Word of what we may become, what our future looks like, but often our patience gives way before the final picture is put together. God certainly wants us to try! So why don’t we? Let’s keep stretching and trusting and seeking Him Who has the BIG PICTURE already in action. Let’s let God’s grace keep helping us become the best-put-together puzzle we could ever be! We can trust God that He is working on our behalf – even when we don’t see any evidence that He is. That’s what faith is!

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

Satisfy Me, Oh Lord

Satisfy Me, Oh Lord
Satisfy: meet the expectations, needs or desires of someone; gratify, fulfill

I've returned home to Frisco, after a packed-full week in Tulsa, and before that, many trips there and back to get Mom's estate sale all ready to go and completed. Our customer, Mom, was completely SATISFIED with the sale that brought in wonderful opportunities to bless a lot of folks with her lifetime of treasures and with the proceeds that came from the sales that will definitely help with her care and budget. Now, her grandson and family can close on the home, get the house ready to move in to make new memories in that wonderful home. All around satisfaction!

As customers shopping and buying in the marketplace, we shop until we drop and we get home and find that important item we purchased to be defective. We have to return to the store and we get less than great customer service. We wait and wait for a service technician to come and repair something in our home, and when they get there, they don't have the part or don't know how to repair it. We just want to be SATISFIED.

We drink a protein shake as a meal to help with weight loss but within minutes, we’ll say “That meal sure didn’t SATISFY me!”

As employers who are responsible for the products or services they represent, they want and must have respectful, efficient, and trustworthy employees. They want to be SATISFIED.

Let’s be real -- from the Moms whose day-to-day activities are mind-boggling -- feeding kids, running errands, wiping faces and bottoms, checking homework, driving carpool, scrubbing toilets -- to the Dads that work from sun-up to sun-down on a J.O.B. to make ends meet for their growing family -- they want to be SATISFIED with their accomplishments.

In the midst of all of that -- we ALL want and need the Lord to SATISFY us, feed us and make us full before life empties us.
The Psalmist David wrote "Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. SATISFY us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:13-14. That's a paraphrase of Moses’ words when he was pleading with the Lord for relief from those demanding, whiny, difficult people.

Moses gives us valuable insight for how to pray those desperate prayers: "Satisfy us in the morning." He knew about the Lord’s daily satisfaction. Each morning, the Israelites would gather enough manna for the day. They were fed, filled and satisfied by the Lord’s supernatural provision of food in their desert wanderings.

Moses knew the Word of the Lord would give him hope for the day’s struggles with those complaining people. God’s Word would give him patience as he waited. God’s Word would turn his eyes from his day’s circumstances and fix them instead on the character of his Lord.

God's Word is the answer for our SATISFACTION, too. It is powerful – so powerful, in fact -- just reading a small portion of the Bible every day will be like the Israelites receiving the Lord's satisfying care every day, and that's what we need, too. We don't have to read chapters and chapters to sustain us for the week. We just need our daily portion. And just like the Lord was faithful to the Israelites, He is faithful today to all who turn to Him.

Oh Lord, we feel like we are running on empty. We need to be filled, but sometimes we try to fill ourselves with rest, television, social media or food. Nothing fills and prepares us for today’s demands like Your Word. Help us feast daily on Your Word so that we are SATISFIED. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

In Only You May My Soul Be SATISFIED

Satisfaction: fulfillment, gratification, contentment, comfort

Remember that old Rolling Stones song: “I can't get no satisfaction”? What is it that causes us to be completely satisfied? A great meal, a good night’s sleep, a day’s good wages for a day’s good work, receiving a pat on the back for a job well done, having a spouse that meets all our needs, having a family, a college education?

My post today is about how to be satisfied, really satisfied – SATISFACTION guaranteed. People all over this world are looking for the pot at the end of the rainbow or winning the lottery or getting that “dream” job and then they’ll KNOW, they’ll be satisfied.

The Psalmist wrote: “O SATISFY us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)

Every good gift that God gives can only be truly and ultimately enjoyed if we start by allowing Him to SATISFY us. Riches, wealth, and honor don’t automatically bring SATISFACTION or contentment. In fact, sometimes they can bring unhappiness, and grief. A perfect example of this was Howard Hughes, who at age 45, was one of the wealthiest men in America. He dated actresses, piloted test aircraft, and worked on top-secret CIA contracts. He owned a string of hotels around the world, and even TWA airlines to carry him on global outings. Twenty years later, at age 65, Howard Hughes still had plenty of money—$2.3 billion to be exact. But the world’s richest man had become one of its most pathetic. He lived in small dark rooms atop his hotels, without sun and without joy. He had a scraggly waist-length beard, his hair fell down his back, and his fingernails were two inches long. His once powerful 6’4” frame had shrunk to about 100 pounds. Life held no meaning for him. Finally, wasting away and hooked on drugs, he died at age 67.

The lesson of Howard Hughes is this: “When God is left out of the equation, all that this world has to offer can be incredibly empty and unsatisfying.

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be SATISFIED.” That is 100 percent guaranteed SATISFACTION. No matter what we face – sickness or health; riches or poverty; a multitude of friends or few friends; single or married; children or childless – the promise of “they shall be filled (SATISFIED) is true, because God fills. “Filled” is a verb in the past tense which is not something that can be achieved, but rather it is something to be received. Christ alone gives genuine SATISFACTION.

Satan will try to deceive us into believing we make our own satisfaction. The world will try to persuade us that they have found true satisfaction. Even religion will try to show us how to achieve a divine satisfaction. And our brain will try to convince us it can be done! But, God, alone, can fill us. He alone has the power to bring genuine satisfaction!

Have you ever seen a truly satisfied person? One who is genuinely content in his lot in life? Jesus describes that kind of person—he is one who "hungers and thirsts after righteousness, for he shall be filled (literally: "continually satisfied"). I pray that your SATISFACTION includes a joy-filled life, family, a great job, friends, things that bring you pleasure, but more than all the intangibles and tangibles, I pray your greatest SATISFACTION comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ and when He is the SATISFIER, everything else in your life will be SATISFIED.

Enjoy this beautiful song, SATISFIED, that describes true SATISFACTION in God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfvFRFLD1RE