Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– John Piper
Being Satisfied in Him
Just as Dr. Piper said, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. If we are not satisfied with our life, then God is not being glorified in us. The author of Hebrews reminds us to be satisfied with what we have because God will never leave us (Heb 13:5). Godliness with contentment is one of the greatest gains there is (1 Tim 6:6). And if we have food and clothing, shouldn’t we be satisfied in God for that (1 Tim 6:8)? To be content with our lot in life is to be satisfied in God, and that is when God is most glorified in us because we are being satisfied in Him.
Exceeding Joy in His Presence
We have some people who worship at our church that feel like they are just going to explode for joy. I love that. God must certainly be pleased with the way they carry themselves into worship on Sunday mornings. As Psalm 43:4 says, they “go to the altar of God [with] exceeding joy,” and it’s a joy that’s contagious. You can tell they are satisfied in God, and it’s not just because they’re saved, but because they turn their joy in God into strength (Psalm 28:7). They act as if they’ve written half the Psalms. Who could ever argue that they’re not satisfied in God? Clearly, for them, being in God’s “presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).
Satisfaction in Belief
How can you be satisfied in believing? I’m not exactly sure this works, but it’s true because the Bible frequently ties in belief with joy, just as Peter writes that even though we’ve never seen God, we believe in Him, and that causes us to rejoice “with unutterable and glorified joy (1 Pet 1:8). I love that line. Isn’t joy sometimes hard to put into words? Peter calls it “unutterable and glorified joy,” and that joy is a deep, abiding satisfaction in God. That glorifies God, no doubt about it. I can say that because Scripture says that God fills us with joy and peace by our believing in Him (Rom 15:13), which once again ties into the fact that joy and belief bring satisfaction, and that satisfaction brings God glory.
Learning To Be Contented
Paul clearly says that he had to learn to be content or satisfied, even in the hardships in his life, like in hunger, cold, and want (Phil 4:11-13). That state of contentedness, regardless of whether it had to be learned or not, glorifies God even more because we are being most satisfied during the most unsatisfactory of circumstances. The good that we can do even when we’re suffering can bring glory to God (Matt 5:16), and I dearly want that. Don’t you? All Paul was concerned with was that God be glorified in his body (Phil 1:20) and that the gospel is proclaimed, and with these two things he rejoiced (Phil 1:17). To rejoice in striving to glorify God and in proclaiming the gospel of God, Paul was obviously showing that he was most satisfied in God, and that is when God is most glorified.
