“It’s
not enough” (Genie’s voice) … In
the movie “Aladdin” the street boy, Aladdin wanted to be a prince. The
genie began to create all types of “prince like” things. For each idea,
he wanted it bigger and better. It was never enough. And when
Aladdin finally rode into the kingdom on an elephant, accompanied by all the
extras befitting a prince, Princess Jasmine was not the least bit impressed.
Discontentment in our lives is
often the same way. Instead of knowing who we already are, who we are
created to be, we try to become someone by searching for external
trappings. The child of God has been created with royal blood in his or
her veins. We are royalty. We are children of
the King of kings. Yet why
do we spend so much of our lives seeking to matter? Why do we spend so
much time searching for things that will make us feel important? What
will it take to show us that God has created us because He wants to
love us? Dad wants to love you. He wants to love me too.
It’s not what we do or what we have. It’s just because we
are us.
The book of Proverbs speaks of
this “not enough” syndrome. “The leech has two daughters, crying, Give,
give! There are three things that are never satisfied, yes, four that do not
say, It is enough: Sheol (the place of the dead), the
barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that says
not, It is enough.” (Proverbs 30:15-16) The two daughters seem to
be continually trying to be better than each other. We often want to have
and do better things than another. If not competing with someone else, we
often push ourselves. It’s hard to just accept that the house is clean
enough…the job has been done well (at work or home)…there is enough food…and so
on.
Do we cry “give, give!”
Give me recognition! Give me love! Give me hope! All these things
have already been given to us by the Father through Jesus Christ. God
recognizes when we’ve done a good job, even if no one else does. Jesus
spoke of this in the Sermon on the Mount, “But when you give to charity, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that
your deeds of charity may be in secret; and your Father Who sees
in secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew
6:4) No one else needs to even see. The Bible is full of verses
about God’s love for us. The most well known being, “For God so
greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His
only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to,
relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal
(everlasting) life.” (John 3:16) And God is the source of hope.
“Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith
into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and
safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in
our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory
of God.” (Romans 5:2) He gives us everything we need.
Four things are listed that are
never satisfied: death, a barren womb, thirst and fire.
Death is far more than the obvious. Death can be
wrong expectations, criticism or any negatives that cause us to doubt our
dreams and value. Be encouraged, Jesus’ death and resurrection defeated
all death. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your
sting?” (1Corinthians 15:55) His word brings life. His
resurrection puts an end to the death of any God given dreams and calls on your
life. We are to die to this world, but anything of God will remain.
If a God given dream has seemingly died, resurrection day is coming. But,
remember, Jesus looked different after His resurrection. Your dreams may
look a little different than you had imagined.
A barren womb is very painful. I’ve had friends who have
longed for a child, but month after month they have not conceived. I
cannot begin to understand this pain, but I know it is intense. The
barren womb can also be a place of unfulfilled and dashed hopes. There
are many things that are “supposed to work out” according to our plans.
But they don’t, or at least haven’t yet. This pain can also be very real
and intense. When faced with a feeling of barrenness, whether longing for
a child or a dream, consider Abraham and Sarah, whose bodies were “as good
as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the
barrenness of Sarah’s [deadened] womb.” (Romans4:19b) God’s
promises and calls have no expiration dates. Though the wait may be
difficult and faith hard to find, God’s plan will come to pass.
Contentment comes from holding on to hope and faith during the waiting
time. We have a great promise, “And let us not lose
heart and grow weary and faint in acting
nobly and doing right,
for in due time and at the
appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax
our courage and faint.” (Galatians 6:9) Some promises may go
well beyond their expected due date. Wait expectantly.
Thirst can be alleviated for a time, but is never truly
quenched. We can be thirsty for what we think we need or want.
Jesus spoke directly to thirst when he said “He who believes in Me [who
cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture
has said, from his innermost being shall flow [continuously]
springs and rivers of living water.” (John 7:38) For
many years, Diet soda was my drink of choice. Along with the water I
needed, were many chemicals and additives that actually contributed to health
problems I was experiencing. Drinking water with little or no additives is
the best thirst quencher. Do you thirst for anything besides God’s plan for
you? Do you seek anything over trusting Jesus? These add-ons can bring
sickness to your soul. You will not quench your thirst, but always crave
more. Drink from the living water of clinging to Jesus and drink often.
Fire, that burning passion, will destroy everything in its
path. Passion for the wrong things can burn others and it can burn us at
the same time. We can be singed by running ahead of God or toward other
things. Fire will always burn, so make sure it is the fire of
a burning passion for God in our lives. We will be purified by God’s holy
fire. “So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested,
[your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which
is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your
faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus
Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.” (1Peter 1:7) This
increases our value as God’s servant. “Take away the dross from the silver,
and there shall come forth [the material for] a vessel for the silversmith [to
work up].” (Proverbs 25:4)
At the end of the movie, Aladdin
found his value in what he truly was inside. He left behind his “street
rat” image of himself and became the man and prince he meant to be. Things in
life may come against us. We must know who we are and how faithful God
is. This comes from knowing and believing what the Word says. God
has said, “And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be
My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2
Corinthians 6:18)
Let the external trappings of
this world fall away. Study and speak to God regularly. Seek to be the
person God uniquely created you to be. When it appears, there is not
enough, remember, He is more than enough.
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