You’ve put your finger on a very deep question — one that Solomon himself wrestled with in Ecclesiastes. Let me share a few perspectives that bring biblical, theological, and human reflection together:
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1. Why Humans Constantly Seek Stimulation
Human beings are created with longing — for food, for beauty, for intimacy, for companionship, for meaning. These drives in themselves are not evil; they are part of God’s design to sustain life and encourage relationship. But sin distorts these longings into endless craving rather than restful satisfaction.
Solomon’s case: His 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3) were not just about pleasure but also about political alliances and human pride. Yet in Ecclesiastes he admits that all his pursuits were ultimately “vanity and chasing after the wind” (Eccl. 2:11).
Modern parallel: We fill our lives with stimulation (screens, food, sex, possessions) but the satisfaction fades, and the cycle begins again.
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2. Why God Created Man with Longing
God created man with neediness not as a flaw but as a pointer: our incomplete nature drives us to seek the One who can complete us.
Augustine said: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
Our thirst, hunger, and desires are symbols of our deeper hunger for God (see John 4:14, John 6:35).
Without longing, we would never seek relationship, never reach beyond ourselves, never desire God.
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3. A Better Way of Life
Yes, there is a better way: to redirect longing from endless earthly stimulation toward God Himself.
Jesus’ promise: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
Paul’s testimony: He had tasted worldly privilege and power but concluded, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
The Spirit produces in us not restless cravings but fruit: love, joy, peace, contentment (Galatians 5:22).
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4. So Why the Constant Struggle?
Because our fallen nature wants to satisfy eternal longing with temporary pleasures. Pleasure is not bad — it’s part of God’s good creation — but when it becomes our ultimate goal, it enslaves us.
God allows this struggle so we learn the futility of idols and turn back to Him.
Even Solomon’s excess is left in Scripture as a warning: a man who had everything still felt empty without God.
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✨ Summary:
Man seeks stimulation because he was made with longing, but sin bends that longing into endless craving for temporary pleasures. God designed our “neediness” to lead us back to Him — only in Him is rest and fullness found. The better way is not suppression of desire but fulfillment in Christ, who alone gives living water that satisfies forever.
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Would you like me to also write this out as a meditative prayer or reflection card (like your morning/evening prayers) so you can keep it close for daily encouragement?
what is restful satisfaction? Where and how do you get it?
That’s a beautiful follow-up. Let’s take it step by step:
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1. What Is Restful Satisfaction?
It’s not the thrill of a moment (which fades) but the deep peace of having enough, the soul being quiet, no longer restless.
In the Bible this is described as shalom (peace, wholeness, completeness).
Jesus pictured it as “living water” (John 4:14) and “bread of life” (John 6:35) — nourishment that ends thirst and hunger at the deepest level.
It’s the inner rest where you don’t need to scramble for more, because your soul is anchored in God’s love.
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2. Where Is It Found?
According to Scripture, it is found in God Himself — in His presence, His promises, His fellowship.
“My soul finds rest in God alone” (Psalm 62:1).
Jesus said: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
It is not in circumstances or possessions, but in relationship with the One who made us.
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3. How Do You Get It?
Restful satisfaction is not manufactured — it’s received. The way into it is:
1. Trust – Believing that God really is enough, that His love and provision are sufficient.
2. Surrender – Letting go of the illusion that endless cravings will fill us.
3. Abiding – Staying connected to Christ like a branch to the vine (John 15:4–5). Through prayer, Word, worship, and daily walking with Him, we experience His life flowing into us.
4. Contentment practice – Paul learned to be content in plenty or in want, because “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11–13).
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4. What It Feels Like
Quiet joy even when life is uncertain.
Freedom from constantly needing the next thrill.
Gratitude that sees the small blessings of each day.
A steady heart — not empty, not frantic, but filled.
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✨ In short: Restful satisfaction is the soul’s deep peace in God — the place where thirst ends and striving ceases. It comes not by getting more, but by resting more in Christ, receiving from Him what the world cannot give.
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Would you like me to prepare a short meditation or prayer you can use daily to help your soul taste this restful satisfaction?
Yes.
Here is a short daily meditation and prayer you can use to center your heart in restful satisfaction:
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🌿 Meditation on Restful Satisfaction
Scripture
“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.” — Psalm 62:1
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Reflection
Lord, my soul is often restless, chasing after more — more comfort, more recognition, more pleasure. Yet the more I chase, the less peace I find. You created me with longing, but only You can fill it.
Today I choose to stop striving and to rest in You.
In Your love I am safe.
In Your grace I am forgiven.
In Your presence I am whole.
What I seek in the world is but a shadow; what I find in You is fullness.
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Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You are my rest and my satisfaction.
Calm my busy thoughts.
Quiet my anxious desires.
Teach me contentment in Your love.
May I drink deeply of Your living water
and taste the bread of life that never perishes.
I surrender my cravings to You.
I receive Your peace that passes understanding.
In You I have enough.
Amen.
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Would you like me to also create a morning & evening version of this — short enough to pray at the start and end of each day — so you can carry that restful satisfaction with you daily?
I am 76 years old and still recovering from the by passes surgery done about a year ago. And I am a little obese feeling heavy and tired. So all your talks on getting and living it out on restful satisfaction sound remote and dim. Why?
Thank you for opening your heart. What you shared is very real—and I hear both your physical weight (literally: obesity, surgery recovery, lingering tiredness) and the inner weight (dimness, distance from the “restful satisfaction” we’ve been talking about).
Let me try to unpack why it may feel so “remote and dim” right now:
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1. The Body Affects the Soul
At 76, and especially after bypass surgery, your body is still carrying scars, inflammation, and reduced energy. Feeling heavy and tired is not just physical—it colors how the mind and heart process hope. Even spiritual encouragement can feel like it’s far away because the body is weighing the soul down. Elijah, after great ministry, collapsed under a broom tree and said, “I’ve had enough, Lord” (1 Kings 19). What did God do first? Not preach at him, but let him eat and rest. Sometimes exhaustion makes satisfaction seem unreachable.
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2. The Shadow of Comparison
When you hear words like “restful satisfaction,” the mind may compare your current weakness to an ideal: someone light, healthy, and spiritually soaring. That comparison can make the reality feel dim. But notice: God never says, “Be as strong as you once were”—He says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Restful satisfaction may look different now than it did in your 40s or 50s.
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3. The Slow Work of Recovery
Surgery is not just a medical event—it’s a spiritual valley. Even after a year, your body is still repairing blood flow, your energy is still recalibrating, and your emotions are catching up with what you went through. That lingering dimness is part of recovery. It does not mean you lack faith—it means healing is still unfolding. Sometimes restful satisfaction is not a big burst of joy but a small candle light that doesn’t go out in the dark.
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4. What Restful Satisfaction Might Mean for You Now
For you, restful satisfaction may not be about achieving lightness or energy but:
Breathing deeply in God’s nearness even while tired.
Savoring one small joy—a bird outside, a grandchild’s voice, a warm meal—as a taste of God’s goodness.
Letting go of self-condemnation (“I’m heavy, I’m weak”) and instead whispering, “Yet I am His.”
Receiving rest as worship—trusting that even your slowness can glorify God.
It is not remote; it just looks gentler, slower, quieter than the younger picture of satisfaction.
I thought if I had a young girl friend I would go happy but this desire seems not only impossible but sinning.
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What you just said is very honest, and I want to treat it with care.
At your age, after surgery, with tiredness and heaviness, the heart naturally looks for something that feels like it could bring back vitality, youth, and intimacy. Wanting joy, companionship, or even tenderness is deeply human. But as you already sense, fixing that longing onto a young girlfriend won’t give you the “restful satisfaction” we’ve been talking about—it risks leaving you emptier, and it could also bring guilt and brokenness.
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1. Why the Desire Feels Strong
The need for renewal: you’re longing for something that makes you feel alive again.
The ache of loneliness: even surrounded by family, the heart still craves being deeply seen and cherished.
The illusion of youth: the mind says, “If I had that, I’d feel young and strong again.”
This isn’t strange—it’s simply the soul crying out for love, energy, and meaning. But the target (a young girlfriend) is misplaced.
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2. Why It Feels Impossible (and Wrong)
Impossible: age gap, health, and life season make it unrealistic.
Wrong: because it’s not about mutual giving, but about trying to “consume” life from someone else. That’s not love—it’s need dressed up as romance. Your conscience is already telling you this.
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3. What the Longing is Really Pointing To
The longing itself is not evil—it’s a sign. It’s saying: “I need intimacy, renewal, and rest.” God designed that longing, but sin often tempts us to aim it at the wrong place. The true fulfillment is not in “youthful romance” but in:
God’s embrace: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).
Wholesome companionship: with spouse, family, or even trusted friends who share life’s burdens.
Inner renewal: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
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4. A Better Path Forward
Acknowledge the longing honestly before God: “Lord, I feel this desire. It feels strong. Show me what it really means.”
Seek companionship in wholesome, life-giving ways: conversations, shared meals, spiritual fellowship.
Redirect the desire into intimacy with Christ—this is not just religious talk; it is the only love deep enough to hold you at 76, body weak, yet soul precious.
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💡 In short: wanting a young girlfriend is your heart’s way of crying, “I want to live, I want to be loved, I want to feel whole again.” The desire is not wrong—but the direction is. God is inviting you to discover restful satisfaction not by grasping youth, but by letting Him love you right now, as you are.
Would you like me to write for you a simple prayer of release—a way to lay down this longing before God without shame, and let Him reshape it into something good?
3. What the Longing is Really Pointing To
The longing itself is not evil—it’s a sign. It’s saying: “I need intimacy, renewal, and rest.” God designed that longing, but sin often tempts us to aim it at the wrong place. The true fulfillment is not in “youthful romance” but in:
God’s embrace: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).
Wholesome companionship: with spouse, family, or even trusted friends who share life’s burdens.
Inner renewal: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
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4. A Better Path Forward
Acknowledge the longing honestly before God: “Lord, I feel this desire. It feels strong. Show me what it really means.”
Seek companionship in wholesome, life-giving ways: conversations, shared meals, spiritual fellowship.
Redirect the desire into intimacy with Christ—this is not just religious talk; it is the only love deep enough to hold you at 76, body weak, yet soul precious.
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💡 In short: wanting a young girlfriend is your heart’s way of crying, “I want to live, I want to be loved, I want to feel whole again.” The
I thought if I had a young girl friend I would go happy but this desire seems not only impossible but sinning.
What you just said is very honest, and I want to treat it with care.
At your age, after surgery, with tiredness and heaviness, the heart naturally looks for something that feels like it could bring back vitality, youth, and intimacy. Wanting joy, companionship, or even tenderness is deeply human. But as you already sense, fixing that longing onto a young girlfriend won’t give you the “restful satisfaction” we’ve been talking about—it risks leaving you emptier, and it could also bring guilt and brokenness.
---
1. Why the Desire Feels Strong
The need for renewal: you’re longing for something that makes you feel alive again.
The ache of loneliness: even surrounded by family, the heart still craves being deeply seen and cherished.
The illusion of youth: the mind says, “If I had that, I’d feel young and strong again.”
This isn’t strange—it’s simply the soul crying out for love, energy, and meaning. But the target (a young girlfriend) is misplaced.
---
2. Why It Feels Impossible (and Wrong)
Impossible: age gap, health, and life season make it unrealistic.
Wrong: because it’s not about mutual giving, but about trying to “consume” life from someone else. That’s not love—it’s need dressed up as romance. Your conscience is already telling you this.
---
3. What the Longing is Really Pointing To
The longing itself is not evil—it’s a sign. It’s saying: “I need intimacy, renewal, and rest.” God designed that longing, but sin often tempts us to aim it at the wrong place. The true fulfillment is not in “youthful romance” but in:
God’s embrace: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).
Wholesome companionship: with spouse, family, or even trusted friends who share life’s burdens.
Inner renewal: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
---
4. A Better Path Forward
Acknowledge the longing honestly before God: “Lord, I feel this desire. It feels strong. Show me what it really means.”
Seek companionship in wholesome, life-giving ways: conversations, shared meals, spiritual fellowship.
Redirect the desire into intimacy with Christ—this is not just religious talk; it is the only love deep enough to hold you at 76, body weak, yet soul precious.
---
💡 In short: wanting a young girlfriend is your heart’s way of crying, “I want to live, I want to be loved, I want to feel whole again.” The desire is not wrong—but the direction is. God is inviting you to discover restful satisfaction not by grasping youth, but by letting Him love you right now, as you are.
Would you like me to write for you a simple prayer of release—a way to lay down this longing before God without shame, and let Him reshape it into something good?
Here is a gentle prayer you can use, morning or evening, when that longing rises up in you:
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A Prayer of Release
“Lord, You know me completely.
You know my body is weak and heavy,
my heart still longing for closeness and joy.
Sometimes I imagine that youth, romance, or escape could make me whole—
but I know this is not the way.
So I place this desire in Your hands.
Take my restless longing and wash it in Your love.
Let me feel again that I am Your beloved,
created in Your image, purchased at great price,
never forgotten, never forsaken.
Lord, renew my heart day by day.
Even if my body grows older and tired,
let my spirit rise fresh in Your presence.
Give me companions who lift me up,
family whose love reminds me of Yours,
and moments of joy that are pure and lasting.
I rest in You, my true satisfaction.
Amen.”
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This prayer is not about suppressing your longing, but about bringing it into the light before God, so it can be reshaped instead of controlling you. Over time, that “remote and dim” feeling you described may begin to soften into peace.
🙏 Would you like me to also prepare a shorter version—a one-sentence prayer you can whisper anytime the thought of wanting a young girlfriend comes, so you don’t feel trapped by it?
In conversations beyween jacob and essu, Jacob insisted that esau ought to receive the gifts whereupon esau said, "i have plenty" whereas on esau obliging Jacob said I have all I need. Is you discussion somewhat rooted in the differences between "i have plenty" vs "i have all i need"?
Yes—that’s a very perceptive connection you just made. The difference between Esau saying “I have plenty” and Jacob saying “I have all I need” goes right to the heart of “restful satisfaction.”
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1. Esau: “I Have Plenty” (Genesis 33:9)
Esau’s words literally mean: “I have much” (Hebrew: יֵשׁ־לִי רָב — yesh li rav).
His sense of satisfaction is based on abundance, on quantity. He measures life in terms of possessions, strength, and fullness.
This is a relative statement: “I have a lot—more than enough.” But it is still about having.
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2. Jacob: “I Have All I Need” (Genesis 33:11)
Jacob’s phrase is different: “I have everything” (Hebrew: יֵשׁ־לִי כֹּל — yesh li kol).
It’s not about quantity, but about sufficiency: “What I have is complete; I lack nothing.”
This echoes Psalm 23:1—“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Jacob had come through exile, loss, fear, and reconciliation. What mattered to him was not “plenty,” but the sense that God’s provision made him whole.
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3. The Deeper Spiritual Picture
Plenty = abundance that can still leave a person restless (because there can always be more).
All I need = contentment rooted in God’s presence and promise, regardless of “much” or “little.”
This is exactly the difference between stimulation/pleasure-seeking (always needing “more”) and restful satisfaction (being able to say, “I have all I need in Him”).
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4. How It Connects to Your Life Right Now
At 76, recovering from surgery, carrying heaviness—“plenty” may feel out of reach. Energy, vitality, and even desires can feel like they’re slipping. But “all I need” is still possible, because it rests not on youth, possessions, or romance, but on God’s unfailing love and presence with you.
So yes—your insight is right on target: the conversation between Esau and Jacob mirrors the difference between chasing “plenty” and resting in “all I need.”
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Would you like me to make a short reflection card for you—one side “I have plenty” (Esau), the other side “I have all I need” (Jacob)—so you can use it as a daily reminder when those restless thoughts rise?
