Tag Archive | Philippines 4:11

Contentment…

Mar5

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!

Seasons of Contentment

Oct5

As a 73 year old mother and grandmother, I am finding that the winter season of life is an unbalanced mixture of highs and lows. And, as is too often the case, my perspective is fashioned by the self-centered bent of my fleshly nature. You know, that part of us that we are all born with and until we invite God’s spirit to dwell within us, rules our thinking.

Ever since the last of my 4 fledglings flew from the nest (that was 18 years ago), it’s been an up and down journey for this mom. Contentment was a constant as I was raising my four beloved children. But as one by one they took flight, my contentment began to wane. And was sorely tested when my entire brood moved out and away. Since then while they have moved sometimes closer and sometimes further (even one went to live on the African continent) my contentment ebbed and flowed in concert with their change of addresses . Predictably, the arrival of grandchildren, as wonderful as that has been, contributed to an even greater elusiveness of contentment.

Initially, there were times when I thought, “I just can’t do this.” The reason being, I was brought up on a farm where children grew up and planted their homes not too far away. Therefore, I was predisposed to expect the same future for my growing babes. And even more so since returning to my childhood roots about 40 years ago to establish my forever home.

Yet, the cold reality is that the contentment of my four grown up children is now defined as mine was when we shared the same nest. My presence is no longer necessary to their contentment. Instead,I have become an accessory.

And you know what I am discovering? Being an accessory is as it should be. It’s the way of life. I am learning that only when I allow the lies of fiery darts to interpret my thoughts, will I wander into the valley of despair.

Every season of life is designed for a purpose. God reminds me of this, when I am tempted to allow sadness and my lack of contentment to fashion my attitudes and actions. Plain and simple, my friends, this is nothing but disobedience. Besides, my discontentment will steal the blessings God has for me in this season.

Up until my Winter season there were an abundance of reasons for my seasonal contentments. They were blessings straight from God. And they motivated me in overcoming the hardships I encountered. But in my Winter season the absence of those preferred blessings created a gap in my contentment. That is until I came to terms with the fact that the truest and best contentment can only be found in Christ. This type of God-given contentment opens the door to appreciate a whole new realm of contentments designed to enhance the Winter of my life. Being contented in Christ is the perspective we need to envision all the possibilities for contentment no matter the season of life, but especially in our life’s Winter season.