Many people spend their lives on earth seeking, seeking, seeking for some type of material personal gain, and never find it. Perhaps they think they need more love from their spouse, more money to spend or another place to live. They never have what they need, they feel, and they live unsatisfied.
The sage of Ecclesiastes said it well in writing about the pursuit of happiness through the senses, “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.” Eccl. 1:8, NLT.
But any demoralized outlook can be improved when one looks to God for genuine happiness. God can make us happy no matter how little money we have, no matter how little attention we receive from our spouse, and no matter where we live. With God, matter doesn’t matter. Spirit is what matters! And Spirit is a boundless source of inspiration, joy and love.
There are no limits on how inspired you can be when you seek spiritual inspiration. There is no limit on how much love you can feel when you seek spiritual love. There is no limit on how content you can be when you seek spiritual contentment.
A key to living a life of genuine satisfaction is to have spiritual goals. Spiritual goals can always be reached. Material goals are often fantasies and dream states that are never realized. They are often vain and pursuit of them can cause untold and unnecessary heartbreak and discouragement.
So, set your mental sights on what counts most in life—gain of the spiritual! Choose to be a satisfied immortal rather than an unsatisfied mortal.
When you have God, you have everything. Knowing God is the most satisfying experience of all.
Thanks Evan. This is so true!
When I graduated from college the nation was in the middle of an economic downturn so jobs were scarce. When I got a job offer, I took it, even though the job really didn’t excite me. A few months later I was miserable in this job. I hated it. And since at that point in life my career was so important, that made me miserable just about all the time (at work and away from work).
At some point I called a practitioner. I remember to this day how much love I felt from her. She was literally “an atmosphere of love”. I don’t remember exactly what she told me, but in a few days I must have felt better because I stopped working with her. At some point after that, an idea came to me for a project I could do at work that I would really enjoy. I did do that project and really enjoyed it and shortly thereafter I was allowed to move to a different job within the same company that I really enjoyed.
But the point of this story, as you point out in this blog, was between the time I stopped working with the practitioner and the time the idea came to me for the new project, I was no longer miserable. In other words, even before the “situation” changed, I was able to find satisfaction in the same environment which before caused me so much misery. So the following from your blog is so true:
But any demoralized outlook can be improved when one looks to God for genuine happiness.
Wow! Your inspiring posts always seem to be just what I need to remember right when I need to remember it! This one is something I’ll re-read and think about very often ! Thank you so very much!
Hi Evan,
Last evening during the singing rehearsal I was worried about my tuning ability and some negative thoughts were going around making the singing more of a burden than of a pleasure.
When I noticed this mortal state of mind I said: Wait a minute, I sing because I feel good and not the opposite !
So I reached out for God’s thoughts by understanding that as a pure spiritual expression of Him I can only sing beautifully. There’s no need to fear making a mistake.
In this moment I was caught by such a great joy that set me free from the pressure of singing well and also the joy I was seeking through singing was healed as I could understand that we need first to reach for God and then in return we get this satisfaction.
In other words, no matter how much you make rehearsals, if you don’t let God touch your thoughts to uplift them, you’ll hardly evolve in this area and hardly get 100% satisfied.
Thanks for sharing this post, it helped me by anology to understand better the healing I had last evening ! 😀
Very good! Thank you for sharing…
” Material goals are often fantasies and dream states that are never realized. ” I can attest to that.
I like the comment of “Singer.” I am now saying to myself, in a job that is not on-its-face satisfying, I work because I feel good. God has given me the health and strength to have this job and my work today, first and foremost, is to honor Him and be the best I can be. Because I live and breath through Spirit, Mind.
Being satisfied is directly linked to the thoughts of the individual. It has nothing to do with the job that one has, or the marriage, or the friends or even the school one attends. It has to do with how much effort one is making in realizing his relationship with God.
The littlest understanding does lead one in huge satisfaction of life.
Pitch perfect. “Who doth His will—-His likeness still—Is satisified.” Hym 160.
I will be a satisfied immortal today.oh boy. Thanks Evan!
P.s. I would love to hear a list of “spiritual goals” that you recommend. I spotted a few in your blog.
Spiritual goals? To be spiritually minded. To be so filled up with truth and love that fear cannot enter into your point of view. To be so aware of God’s presence that you feel deep peace and comfort. To reflect love more and more everyday…to be a blessing to everyone you come into contact with…