From the Desk of Jeff King

Satisfaction

King David and the apostle Paul were kindred spirits. They knew their walk with God would not be complete until they saw Him face to face in the world to come. David wrote in Psalm 18:15, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness."

Paul expressed similar yearnings in 1 Cor. 13:12 – "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." God reveals Himself in His Word, but the picture is incomplete. He is too vast, too glorious for the finite human brain to comprehend. By remaining faithful to Adonai, both men could anticipate a joyous reunion with their Maker in heaven. One day their souls would be satisfied in full. So can ours, but in this life we need a different focus than the world. Our eyes should desire what can't be seen. As Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 4:18, "The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Still small voice

God's voice thunders from heaven (Psalm 18:13) but one day recently He reached me with a whisper. I was driving in my car to visit a wheelchair-bound Christian friend, who was struggling at home with health issues. I asked the Lord if He had a Scripture verse I could share to encourage him. Nothing came to me. After a pause I heard His still small voice speak in my spirit, "Sparrows." I immediately thought of Yeshua's words in Matthew 10:29-31:

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

The Lord gave me this passage to comfort my friend on his sickbed. Like the sparrow, the Lord had not forgotten nor forsaken him. I parked in a gravel driveway at the side of his house, grabbed my Bible and walked up the steps. This was my first visit to his home. As I approached the front door I looked up and froze. Dozens of sparrows and finches were crowded around a row of bird feeders positioned in front of the living-room window. They were chowing down in the chill of morning, oblivious of the visitor. I came to deliver a blessing, but God blessed me before I even reached the door. He confirmed that I had indeed heard His voice – a one-word command – and was on task. Once inside, I shared the Matthew passage with my friend and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. I felt God's peace and presence as we opened the Scriptures. Not only was His gaze locked on us, but on a flock of unwitting birds having breakfast outside. On the way home I whispered to the Lord: You are awesome and amazing. You are God, and there is none like You.

The pursuit of happiness

Apart from God, man labors to find happiness. It is elusive and fleeting. We see this struggle develop in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness (sic), which is inspired by a true story. Chris Gardner and his young son are homeless on the streets of San Francisco. A failed marriage and business devastate him. In sheer desperation, Gardner joins a brokerage firm as an unpaid intern. He climbs the corporate ladder and earns millions as an investment banker, making him, we presume, a happy man.

Except for a brief scene when Gardner, played by Will Smith, attends chapel service at a homeless shelter, God is absent from his pursuit. We can admire Gardner for the devotion to his son and his resolve to climb out of poverty. But can wealth and corporate success buy happiness? Solomon wrote in Ecclesiates 5:10, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity." The first chapter of the book of Psalms offers a blueprint for happiness, and it is not the way of the world:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

The Hebrew word for "blessed" above is 'esher, meaning happiness, bliss or blessing. To find true happiness the passage suggests we: 1) Avoid wickedness; 2) Take pleasure in God's Word. The law refers to Torah, the first five books of Moses. 3) Ponder or study Scripture throughout the day. A person can take pleasure in the Word by having an intimate, personal relationship with Messiah Yeshua, the author of the Word. Happiness is the fruit of making Him our pursuit.