Day by Day Contentment
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During the 5+ years on our unexpected journey, one of the things I felt continually challenged by was to "learn to be content" in whatever situation I was in. And it was challenging! Being content while I was sick, while my husband was lying in silence on a hospital bed, while I continually faced financial challenges, and while every way I looked there was so much I needed to deal with......it was not a simple matter to be "content." And yet, God helped me to do just that. His loving grace enabled me to find peace and rest, to find a place of contentment day by day. I'm so grateful.
I wish that contentment, once achieved, could just become permanent. But the very challenge to "learn to be content in whatever state I am in" makes it clear that it's a continual challenge. I daily face new barriers to contentment. I find myself coming back to the Lord again and again asking for His fresh help and grace to be content. He is patient and faithful - He helps me over and over come to a rest, a peace, and yes a true contentment in each situation.
One recent day when I was dealing with some physical issues, I was finding it hard to be "content." I wanted change. I wanted healing. I read a devotional about a 64 year old lady who had been bedridden for more than 16 years. She was in constant pain and unable to move. The only thing she could use was her thumb on her right hand. But everyone who was with her talked about how joyful and thankful she was. She used a 2 pronged fork with that thumb to put on her glasses, feed herself, sip tea through a tube, and turn pages of her large Bible. Everything she did was with the use of that right thumb. She thanked the Lord continually for the use of that thumb, for His goodness to her, and for His saving grace. (Shared from "Our Daily Bread" May 1993).
Contentment isn't learned all at once and it's over with. It's a daily process of being thankful for whatever blessings we have. I'm still on the journey of learning contentment!
"In everything give thanks." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11-13
"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment." 1 Timothy 6:6
"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10
Each morning as I thank the Lord for a new day, I ask Him to help me have a heart of contentment. I'm so grateful for His mercy and grace to me. He is so faithful!
I have been challenged in my pursuit of contentment because it has been a hard week. One thing after another seems to have "plagued" me. As I was needing to make some decisions, this verse came to my mind:
"This is what the Lord says, 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.' " Jeremiah 6:16
I took time to bring each matter to the Lord and ask Him for the "good way." As I've waited in His presence and listened, I feel I'm getting some help and clarity. I've also received His peace which brings "rest for my soul." Oh how I need that rest - that soul-rest. I have had to remind myself to bring each thought, each worry, each concern, each need to Him. I can't carry them, but He can! I'm so grateful that for every crossroads that I come to, He can show me the ancient path, the good way. He is faithful!
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:27
"Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." Psalm 105:4
"In anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free." Psalm 118:5
"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:8