Satisfying Our Desire for Pleasure

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| Finding Satisfaction series |

• How to Be Happy
• Satisfied in Success
• Satisfying Our Desire for Pleasure
• Can Soulmates Satisfy
• How to Find Satisfaction

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Why did God make pleasure? Can our desire for pleasure ever be fully satisfied? What does enjoying pleasure look like as Christians, in what ways are we limited?

Can Pleasure Satisfy?

Like we discussed last week, God wants us to enjoy life’s good things. Whether it’s relaxing with a glass of wine, admiring the beauty of nature, traveling to a new and exciting place, or even having sex, God made it all for us to enjoy. Pleasure is defined as “a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment”; it is essentially the experience of happiness. So, if we pursue pleasure, will we find happiness? Will we find satisfaction?

In a post from a few months ago, we saw that the Apostle Paul was an expert on the topic of suffering, having endured so much in his life. Does he have a counterpart in the Scriptures, an expert on the topic of pleasure? Indeed, he does. King Solomon’s wealth is valued in the trillions, and he used this wealth to search for satisfaction, including satisfaction in pleasure.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, he summarized the results of his search. He explains how he explored pleasure as a source for satisfaction: “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure, enjoy yourself. … I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine … I built houses and planted vineyards … I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-8) He sums it up by saying “whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure” (Ecclesiastes 2:10). However, his pursuit revealed that even endless pleasure cannot satisfy: “behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

Why Did God Make Pleasure?

So, if pleasure can’t satisfy us, then why did God make it? He made it because He loves us, and, more specifically, because He wants us to enjoy life. “Everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13) In Ecclesiastes 8:15, under God’s inspiration, Solomon commends those who enjoy life. Is it any wonder that one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy? God wants us to experience joy!

So, why doesn’t He allow pleasure to be our satisfaction? The answer is the same: because He loves us. If pleasure could be our satisfaction, then we wouldn’t search for Him. Proverbs 16:26 says that “A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him on.” Just as our body’s hunger for food urges us on in our work, our soul’s hunger for satisfaction urges us on in our pursuit of God. Our God is good and offers not only satisfaction but so much more. Pleasure could in no way replace all that He does for us.

Every form of idolatry harms us by replacing our good God with something that cannot give us what we need. When we pursue pleasure as the source of our satisfaction, it has become an idol. This happens in small and subtle ways. When we were first married, it snuck up on me. If sex was denied, I couldn’t help but think “well then what’s the point”. At least partially, I saw pleasure as the purpose of our marriage.

Moreover, whenever pleasure becomes an idol, it inevitably leads us to indulge sinful desires. Like we discussed in another post, sinful desires are rooted in covetousness, so when we indulge those desires, we allow that covetousness to grow. If we seek pleasure as the source of our satisfaction, then our desire for pleasure cannot be satisfied.

Enjoying Pleasure

Now, enjoying pleasure isn’t bad. After all, God made it! He wants us to take pleasure in the good things He has given us. “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7) What’s more, because He made pleasure, He knows best how to take full advantage of it. Our culture subtly paints the picture that Satan’s primary goal is pleasure while God’s is just that we do what’s right. However, Jesus revealed the truth: “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” (John 10:10)

It’s so easy to view His commands as rules that constrain our pleasure, but they actually instruct us in how to enjoy pleasure the right way, so that we can experience all its benefits and avoid every detriment. His commands are given to us so that we might enjoy life fully! If you’ll allow me a little creative license: His commands are the life hack to getting the most out of life’s good things. Whenever He tells us to not covet, it’s because He knows covetousness will rob us of satisfaction. Whenever He tells us to not be sexually immoral, it’s because He knows the sorrow it brings. Whenever He tells us to have no other gods before Him, it’s because He is the only one who can provide all good things for us. Whenever He invites us to spend time with Him, it’s so that we can feel the “fullness of joy” that’s found only in His presence.

His commands aren’t given to restrict our pleasure, but to teach us how to experience it fully. He is teaching us how to live life in such a way that we can enjoy it, experiencing the fullness of joy and having lasting pleasure (Psalms 16:11). But, in order to experience the benefits His commands have to offer, we must add faith: We must trust that His desire for us is good and that His commands are for our joy!

Our desire for pleasure can be satisfied whenever we know that God, not pleasure, is the source of our satisfaction. In the final post of this series, next time we’ll talk about finding satisfaction in one more thing that we often look to for happiness: relationships.