Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
How To Find Relief From Lingering Dissatisfaction
We know that true satisfaction only comes from God, yet we look in the wrong places expecting them to do for us what only God can do. And we do it over and over again. Pastor Jim has said it before - Dissatisfaction Comes When We Replace God.
Anytime we look to something else to give us what only God can provide we are replacing God with that thing/person/experience, etc, and this is idolatry. We are giving something else God’s place in our lives, and it can happen quick, before we even realize it.
Sometimes we may become dissatisfied with God and turn to other things to replace him. If we are replacing God with something else that we believe will give us satisfaction, we may have a wrong view of God. God is sovereign and in control of life. He is faithful and a promise keeping God. He is who he says he is. When we have a flawed view of God we can become dissatisfied. We want God to do things our way and our prayers exactly as we think they should be answered. We quickly become dissatisfied if it doesn’t go the way we think it should and we look to something else to make us feel better. If we believe God is who he says he is and we trust his sovereignty with our lives, we will trust him to answer our prayers in the very best way and we will be satisfied with whatever that answer is.
Sometimes we believe we deserve everything we want, and we deserve to be happy. But what would it take to make us happy? More money? Different looks? A better job, car, house, or spouse? Believing these things can certainly breed discontent and dissatisfaction with God. We search for false gods to replace him with that we believe will make us happy, and they may for a minute. Then dissatisfaction sets in again and off we go.
We can spend lots of money on what we think is bread that will satisfy only to find out it doesn’t. Only when we turn to him and his abundance will we be satisfied. All the wrong things we turn to only make us thirstier and hungrier than we were before. Only when we drink the living water that leads to eternal life will we be truly satisfied. The longer we spend searching, the longer the dissatisfaction will linger. Satan loves for us to be dissatisfied. As long as we are dissatisfied and we keep looking somewhere else than to God, it keeps us from focusing on him and walking in a relationship with him. In his eyes, anytime he can turn us away from God it is a win.
The woman that we heard about Sunday was offered living water – a wellspring of eternal life. It is water that satisfies forever. Whoever drinks this living water will never thirst. That living water is for us also and it is the only thing that will ever bring satisfaction to our soul. We drink from all the wrong wells looking for the living water that can only be found in Jesus. As long as we look other places to fill that aching dissatisfaction we will be forever thirsty – parched – and desperately seeking to satisfy the ache inside us. But it will never be satisfied outside of Jesus.
Maybe this woman was seeking to satisfy that ache inside of her or maybe her circumstances were because of things outside of her control. We don’t know her story. What is your story? What are you reaching for to satisfy that ache instead of the living water?
So how can we refocus and make sure we turn to him to find the satisfaction we desire?
· Focus on God and your relationship with him. The temptation to feel dissatisfaction will weaken when we are in a growing, transforming relationship with God.
· Believe God’s promises. Find and memorize scripture that is meaningful to you and reminds you of the satisfaction that only God brings.
· Put safeguards in place. What do you need to change in your life that will keep you from the temptation of dissatisfaction? What or who needs to go?
· Know that the Holy Spirit brings victory. Remember that defeating dissatisfaction can only be found in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it in our own power.
Why waste time and resources running after something you will never find. Like the verses above say, why spend money for what doesn't satisfy? And why drink water that only makes us thirsty for more? Trust in God daily and lean into him. He can help us break free from dissatisfaction and help us find satisfaction in him.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. Isaiah 55:2
