For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippines 4:11

Let your conduct be w/o covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

It’s taken me far too many years to learn the lesson of how to be content. Perhaps that’s why I’m feeling the urge to share this with you. Hopefully, it won’t take you as long as it has taken me.

I think the first thing that needs to happen is to realize that all that we have is from God. And not just material goods, but people, place, experiences and situations. If we view these from this perspective, it dramatically changes how we perceive them.

Being the self-serving, self-centered beings that we are, we open ourselves to all sorts of trauma if we see these things: material goods, people, place, experiences and situations as something we obtained ourselves. We won’t hold on to them too tightly if we see them as coming from God, but if we don’t see them this way, then we are bound up in accumulating things for our own pleasure. And we all have heard the familiar phrase, “the more we have the more it controls us.” It’s a liberated feeling to be thankful for what we have been given by God.

Now how does this apply to me and why I would want to share this with you?

I’m 76 years old. I’ve pretty much lived my life and am not obtaining much in the way of new things. I’m just more or less in a state of maintaining. I wouldn’t mind doing some major decluttering either. My future grows shorter as every day passes. One of the troubling things for me is the losses I am experiencing. Losses of family members, dear friends. Things wearing out, my body growing weaker, etc.

I’m still learning and that’s refreshing actually. One of the things I’m learning is to be content with what God has given me and the situations He has allowed me to experience. When I find myself judging someone (fiery dart) due to the pain they have caused me, I am learning (yes, present tense) to bear with them and forgive them as God as forgiven me. It puts the situation in a whole new perspective if I can manager to put that verse into action. Then I direct my attention to what God would have me do in regard to the negativity that exists between us. Takes my focus off myself and onto God.

Hope these truth verses help you as they are helping me.

Be content with what we have been given!