Pastor’s Podium

Recently I was studying and teaching from 1 Corinthians in regard to marriage, singleness, and the Christian mindset. In that book of the Bible, Paul highlights both the blessing of living a single life and the blessing of the married life with the underlying teaching that, whether one is single or married, God has called His followers to purity.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth is that he also gives wise advice concerning when to stay single and when to get married; and just as purity underlies his teaching about the single and married lives, so too, in respect to the question of marriage, there is an underlying principle — satisfaction.

Satisfaction is something that we look for in a variety of areas yet often find elusive. Just when we seem to grasp it, that feeling of contentment can become like grasping water, escaping out of our hand. This is most easily seen in romantic relationships.

When we start that new relationship it can feel satisfying, seeming to fill in that piece of the puzzle that was always missing. To relate the rather corny words of Jerry Maguire, we might feel like the other person completes us ... at least for awhile. There inevitably comes that point when we begin to realize that this flawed person who we are in a relationship with is not able to bring complete fulfillment into our lives.

Even in the best relationship with the best person, if our satisfaction is dependent upon them, we will be left wanting. Even when we are aware of that fact, we can still find ourselves on the merry-goround of dating as we search for that next one who will finally fill that seemingly innate need, that missing piece.

Beyond romance, there are many areas of life in which we can find ourselves incessantly searching for satisfaction. We can look for it in our profession, and when we are left unsatisfied we may find ourselves jumping from job to job.

We can seek it out in our possessions, thinking that a certain house, car, horse, combine, etcetera will make life full; until, that is, we find that there is more that we want.

Having searched through people and things, we might think that contentment will be had when we live in that paradise location of which we have always dreamed. Yet even having a solid relationship, a good job, as many possessions as we could need, and a nice location, we can find ourselves strangely unfulfilled.

Sometimes our lack of satisfaction leads us not into pursuit but to escape. We can find ourselves escaping into that TV show, binge watching for hours on end as a way to stop thinking about our lives, with which we may not be completely satisfied. We can find ourselves escaping into the internet to read about someone else’s seemingly fairytale life or to present a fantasy version of our lives in order to escape the reality and receive some satisfaction for “likes” and accolades. Yet, when the screens are off and we are living in our own lives unfiltered, we can find that there is a lack of satisfaction.

If any of that describes you, you are not unique or alone. Not only do all of us struggle with those pursuits and escapes that ultimately leave us still wanting but the same struggle has always afflicted people.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in the early 50’s A.D. to people who were looking for marriage or singlehood through divorce to finally bring them satisfaction, and in spite of the 1,965 years that have passed, we can still relate!

That commonality is what makes Paul’s teaching so applicable to our time and our lives. His teaching on these pursuits is simply for them to remain in their present state. Rather than seeking out a relationship to fulfill or seeking to end a marriage that failed to fulfill them, his advice is “remain with God in that condition” (1 Cor. 7:24).

The key to being satisfied is not in ones condition, conditions change; rather, satisfaction is found “with God.” Perhaps that is the relationship that you need to start or refocus on today; for when we can truthfully say of God,“He completes us”, we can stop our relentless and painful search for contentment in the things that constantly leave us wanting, unfulfilled, and frustrated.