I found this quote on another site :
"The feeling of an absence in our lives is our souls longing for Gods presence."
That struck a chord with me. The things of this world are appealing. Many of them are also contrary to what God wants for us. There are always things I can point to, or think of, that would seemingly make me happier. I am blessed with so much, and have been for my whole life, that I'm used to God's blessings. Most of the time I expect them and take them for granted.
There is an old saying that "the grass isn't always greener." We always want what we don't have. More money, different job, partner, house, body, etc. God has the benefit of being able to see both sides, not just one side like us. If we were to stay true to our beliefs, we should want what He has for us, not hope that what we want aligns with what He wants. That is backwards. We should want what He wants.
I can think of many situations that I can look back on and think, man, I'm glad I didn't get my way. Had this certain girl liked me, or I got that job, said this or that to someone, my life would be very different than it is now.
This perspective helps in my daily walk, because as situations arise where I think I know what's best for me, God smacks me in the mouth and reminds me that I certainly have no business making my own decisions.
Now to bring this around to the original quote, we try to fill our feelings of emptiness/greed/lust/covetousness with worldly things, when in fact the only thing that will fill the space is God's presence, which comes from our continuous communication with Him. We try and fix our own problems with our own solutions, rather than God's.
Stay classy.
