“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9 ESV).

I know when my soul is empty, when I’m lacking the fulfillment I need. In those bouts of time, I find myself accomplishing tasks to stay occupied, scrolling through Pinterest, putting extra emphasis on my appearance, or reorganizing organized things ….

None of those things are negative. What makes them negative is my motive for doing them.

Contentment’s foe is escapism.

Many people need a distraction to mask the hollow feeling of falling short as an individual. Each person has their own form of relief. It can look like shopping for things you don’t need (I do this with food, pray for me and my fridge), getting lost in some sort of art form, chasing after a career as if it’s the only thing worth anything in life, having sex void of true intimacy and commitment, spending time scrolling through _____ (insert your fave site), working out like crazy to have a sense of self-love, isolating yourself from people, even people that love you—there are thousandsss of conscious, and maybe unconscious, distractions.

But even with all the forms of escapism out there, the soul remains hungry. Immediate relief does not grant long-term satisfaction. In most cases, we have to sacrifice something temporary for something enduring. I can’t feed my soul cotton candy and expect to feel satiated. Yet, that’s what happens too often.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1 ESV).

Being constantly hungry means we’re constantly wanting. It’s hard to be content with what we have when we’re focusing so much on what we don’t have. I do this with basic things like makeup, shoes, or journals. I can sit here right now and tell you that I have makeup I’ve never used, shoes I haven’t worn, and journals I’ve haven’t written in. But when I go out or look online, I think of all the stuff I don’t have instead of utilizing what I do have.

This concept of being content is not original to minimalism. It’s original to God, the one who has everything. Maybe we have both the desire to be content and the desire to increase because our Creator has it all, gives it all, and satisfies it all; not because we’re monsters who can never get enough.

Jesus is enough.

If you find yourself escaping, escape to Jesus. I promise you’ll leave feeling fuller than when you went, perhaps even completely content.

5 Verse Study

• Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.

  Proverbs 15:16 NLT

• But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

  1 Timothy 6:6-8 ESV

• Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, “God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?”

  Hebrews 13:5-6 MSG

• A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

  Proverbs 11:28 MSG

• Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

  Philippians 4:11-13 NLT