Last week I was tasked with writing a devotion (a Bible reading/prayer/meditation plan) for a friend who is walking through the darkest days of her life so far. Actually, three of us would write a devotion, so that she would have three days worth of truth to focus on while she’s away on a tropical vacation that had been planned long before the darkness invaded life as she knew it.
It wasn’t as easy of a task as I thought it would be, and up until the night before her departure, I wasn’t sure what to write, what direction to take. But then I remembered a conversation we’d had about a passage from Stepping Heavenward.
(You know, my favorite book? The one which, if you’ve read it and don’t like it, I start to question our friendship. The one that Elisabeth Elliot also likes, and said we could be friends over? Yeah, that book. You can order it here.)
Here’s the passage I came across. It’s one in which Katy (the main character) is talking to Mrs. Campbell (an elderly woman and patient of Katy’s husband) and asking her about her illness and enduring the trials of life. Here’s what Mrs. Campbell says:
“I was bound to my God and Savior before I knew a sorrow, it is true. But it was by a chain of many links; and every link that dropped away brought me to Him till at last, having nothing left, I was shut up to Him and learned fully what I had only learned partially, how soul-satisfying He is.”
And here is what I ended up writing for this dear friend in hopes of helping her overcome the fear and deep sadness she is facing, with a few edits as of today, because I’ve had more time to think and research.
Isn’t that a beautiful way of describing it? We are bound to Christ in our salvation, but the distance between us (or gulf between us in intimacy) is so much greater than we realize – many, many links in the chain. There’s the link of self-sufficiency, of pride, and of fear. One especially stubborn link is that of control and even more fierce – the links of health and material blessings. Ask me how I know! Cutting those links of metal requires a serious tool, and because there is life in this particular chain, it hurts deeply when the links are cut away.
But the more that are cut away, the closer we are drawn to Christ. And the closer we are drawn to Christ, the more soul-satisfying we find him.
Soul-satisfying.
Doesn’t that just sound so good? Can you imagine being completely satisfied from deep within your soul? No restlessness. No fear. No insecurity. No anxiety. No hiding. No putting on a happy face. In fact, the smile is natural, because it comes from way down deep in a soul completely at rest in her savior.
Oh, how far from that kind of satisfaction, that level of contentedness I am!
So, in order to better face these days when the chain links are being cut away, I thought you and I could both focus on how soul-satisfying Jesus is today. That’s right, both of us. I need this as much as you, and have committed to meditating on the same things I’m asking you to this week. I want to learn it fully, and not partially – just like Mrs. Campbell said.
When you can get alone and undistracted for a little while, look up these verses. I’ll give you some prompts or questions after each one.
Haggai 1:5-7 (…there is not enough to be satisfied. v. 6)
“Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”
What things did the Israelites think would satisfy them?
Pray about ways/places/people in which (or whom) you’ve sought satisfaction apart from Christ.
Write them down.
Matthew 14: 19-21 (…and they all ate and were satisfied. v. 20)
“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.”
About how many were satisfied with five loaves and two fish?
What other needs might Jesus’ followers have been trying to satisfy?
Were there leftovers after the meal? How much?
Remember and make a list of the ways He’s provided for you, satisfied you, given good gifts.
Thank Him.
John 6:30-35 (…he who comes to Me will not hunger. v. 35)
“So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’ “
What do the people want? What Old Testament reference do they make?
What does Jesus say the bread of God gives to the world?
What/Who is the true bread? What happens (or stops happening) to those who eat this bread?
Thank the Father for Jesus. Ask to have your soul satisfied in Him alone.
Write out John 6:35.
Offer it in adoration to Him throughout the day…”You are the Bread of Life. You satisfy every desire.”
Now, just a few more tasks for today…
- Find some pieces of rope, seaweed, palm branches, vines, (toilet paper? 😀 ) etc. and make a short chain out of them. Take a picture and text it to me. This will remind you that in the removing of links there is soul-satisfying nearness to Him happening.
- Buy a loaf of artisan bread in a local market or store (or…grab a piece of toast from the hotel’s continental breakfast?). Text me a photo. Slather on your favorite toppings – butter, jelly, peanut butter, honey? Savor it and with every satisfying bite, give praise to the True Bread of Life.
- Lie on the beach. Close your eyes. Meditate on these words: “My soul is satisfied, My soul is satisfied; I am complete in Jesus’ love, And my soul is satisfied.” It’s the chorus of the hymn “My Soul is Satisfied.” (And the whole thing is worth reading!)
May your soul be at rest today, and fully satisfied in Jesus. May every link that is cut away deepen your satisfaction in Him and your intimacy with Him. I love you, friend.
I did a little research on the Greek word for “satisfied” in the Matthew verse. The word is chortazō and it carries all of the meanings you would guess – to fill, to fulfill – but it can mean something even more grand than that: to gorge or supply food in abundance in order to fill, feed, and satisfy.
Today I’m praying for my friend, for myself, and for you ~ that we would gorge ourselves (I think I like the terms savor and delight and indulge better than gorge) on Jesus and all that He is and provides. He is truly enough, even in our most despairing seasons and on our darkest of days. In fact, nothing and no one else can satisfy.