Contentment in All Things

I think I'm in a new/fresh season of learning to be content.

Learning to be content is not always easy.  There are lots of good things in life, but there's also hard things, difficult things, frustrating things, things we wish would change.  We have to daily call on God's grace to be content with whatever He allows to come our way.  And we have to respond in a Godly way.  If we're truly content, we will learn to accept the bitter things with the sweet - the hard things with the good.

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation...I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."  Philippians 4:11-13

Being content has to do with our attitude, not our circumstances.  We all go through difficult, painful things in life.  How we respond makes a big difference.  I think it also has to do with learning to rest in the Lord - rather than carrying everything ourselves.  And it certainly has to do with trust - knowing that what God has allowed to come into our lives is for our good.....even if we can't see it.

I know I've shared this before, but this quote from Amy Carmichael always comes to mind when I think of my attitude in difficult circumstances.  "The eternal essence of a thing is not in the thing itself, but in one's reaction to it.  The distressing situation will pass, but one'e reaction toward it will leave a moral and spiritual deposit in his character that is eternal."  I want my reactions to leave a positive, Godly deposit in my life!  I daily ask God to help me.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

"My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.  He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber."  Psalm 121:2,3

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places."  Habakkuk 3:17-19

I'm  so grateful that whatever my circumstances, I can take joy in the Lord and find contentment in Him.  I'm still on the never-ending journey of learning to be content, and He is my help and strength!