The other day, I saw a new car in the parking lot. It had an interesting dealership license plate on the front of it that said, “Completely Satisfied!”

I remember thinking to myself as I walked by, “Hey, if you’re going to have a car with that on it, you had better be COMPLETELY satisfied, or you have no right keeping that plate affixed to your car.”

Then, I felt a tug on my own heart, and it wasn’t from a car dealership or salesperson. It was from God. I found myself thinking that if God asked me to wear a sign that says “Completely Satisfied” around my neck for everyone to see, would I or could I? Again I thought, “Am I truly and completely satisfied with all that He gives, He provides, He plans, and especially that He chooses to give or not to give me?”

Was I completely satisfied when I heard that my husband had lost his job and that a major part of our income was soon to be lost? Or, am I completely satisfied when I sit in church week after week without my husband, who continues to reject Jesus as Lord? How about when I was challenged with an injury that prevented me from taking a few steps without terrible, agonizing pain. How satisfied am I?

How about you? Are you completely satisfied when the doctor gives you a bad medical report, or your child has been found abusing drugs, or an unexpected accident damages your car and inconveniences your family, or your unpaid bills are piling up higher than you ever had expected?

Gratefully, to this I can say-YES! I truly am completely satisfied knowing that God, the same God that gave David the pen to write Psalm 23, knows everything about me, and every circumstance I am in. He tells us in His word that He will never forsake us, that He will never leave us, and that He is there in the darkest and deepest valley.

“Yes!”, I shout with a heart filled with joy and praise, because I know that God is with me and that I am not satisfied with the things of this world, but all things given by our Heavenly Father. Or, as Paul the Apostle says in Philippians 4:11: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

I think of the beautiful Psalm 23 and reflect on the words. Some read it as a solemn prayer at the end of someone’s life or during a time of pain and difficultly. I read it with hope, especially the first line that says, “The LORD is my Shepherd- I shall NOT be in want!” And, not wanting anything other than what God has planned for me is completely satisfying!

Diane Check calvarycheck@comcast.net