I remember seeing an old silent film comic who kept kicking his hat further out as he reached down to get it. He never got what he always wanted because of himself. The ironic thing about our pursuit of happiness is that we find ourselves in a similar predicament--we prolong the pursuit of God-given and soul-satisfying pleasure when we take the detours into sin that cannot truly offer satisfaction. We become great at kicking hats but poor at wearing them. Or to state it plainly, we can become experts at chasing the promise of satisfaction but terrible at apprehending it.
As C.S. Lewis so expertly explains:
But [God] knows, and I do not, how [soul satisfaction] can be really and permanently attained. He knows that most of my personal attempts to reach it are actually putting it further and further out of my reach.
Check out the full post from Dane Ortland containing more from Lewis is well worth your time. Click here to see it.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
- PSALM 36.7-9
