Blessed Are the UnsatisfiedSýnishorn

The Blessing of Focus  

When I was about ten years old, I was looking through a mail-order catalog and making wishes when I saw a doll I just had to have. She came with her own stroller, crib, changing table, diapers, bottle, blankets, booties, and change of clothes—all for just thirty dollars! In my family, resources were scarce, but I was a frequent babysitter by then and this price tag placed the doll within my reach. So even though I was a bit old for baby dolls and not in the habit of playing with them, I set a goal to save my money until I had enough to order the set. 

My heart leapt at the sight of the package when it arrived. But when I opened it, I found that everything in it was cute but cheaply made, childish, and about 80 percent smaller than I had imagined it would be. In all my staring at that picture, and reading the description of what I wanted so badly, I had never paid attention to the dimensions. 

Most people learn early that at least some of the things they think will make them happy leave them disappointed and disillusioned. We all know the awful emptiness of desires stoked by temporary fulfillment. We really do know that everything in the catalog is cheaper and smaller than it looks.

Yet followers of Christ are not immune to temptation or bad judgment. Like everyone else, we are tempted to put our faith in the latest and greatest product, pleasure, prophet, or philosophy. Even good things can become not-so-good when we build our lives around them. Work, friendships, family life, leisure, helping others, and religious activity all have the capacity to eat us alive when we offer them our souls.

The Bible also has a lot to say on this subject, and both God and his prophets warn us against chasing illusions. Through Scripture he calls us to a different way of living—one that both makes us more unsatisfied and sets us on a path toward true satisfaction but which, ironically, is not built around our own satisfaction at all.

When we feel unsatisfied, we are more likely to remember that we don’t have all the answers we need and we must lift our eyes to our wise and loving creator. Embracing our unsatisfaction can help us maintain more consistent focus on him, our real reason for hope.