I have been thinking about what it means to be satisfied. Being satisfied is similar to being content: “satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.”

I started thinking about my own personal satisfaction after I bought a new computer and started consolidating all of my photos on my Apple iCloud account. I have taken thousands of pictures over the last five years as I have been getting more involved in photography. Watching these photos uploading into iCloud has been like watching the last five years of my life flash before my eyes. So many things have happened in the last five years and the highlights were flashing across my vision. I asked myself: are you satisfied with your life?

“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭2‬ NIV)

In our culture, so much emphasis is placed on what we have, what we do, who we know, and where we go: the external landscape. Not as much emphasis is placed on the internal landscape: who am I on the inside? If I were to take a photo of my internal landscape, what would it look like? Is my level of contentment with my life based on my external landscape or my internal landscape?

“…and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭58‬:‭10‬ NIV)

These scriptures written by the prophet Isaiah express that our personal external landscape cannot guarantee personal satisfaction. True, lasting satisfaction comes through the power of God flowing through our lives into the lives of others.

Are you satisfied with you life?

“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭58‬:‭11‬ NIV)

(The photos of the beautiful orchids in my backyard and the floral arrangement at St. Regis Hotel Bal Harbour were taken on my iPhone 5 camera in July 2014.)