Thursday, August 23, 2012

On a Personal Note: the secret of contentment

Love this thought from church on Sunday..."contentment is always about 6 months away for us"

When I finish school...
When I get that job, that raise...
When I get married...
When I have a baby....
When I have another baby...
When I'm done having kids...
When we can finally have a home...
When I look that way...
When I weigh that...

A friend came back from Kenya recently and was telling me about an average day for a Kenyan woman in the village where she was.  The whole day revolves around the 3 meals.  Food has to be prepped, eaten and then cleaned up and due to the lack of conveniences, it literally takes all day.

I've had the question in my mind over the past few months, "Is Jesus really enough for me?"
If what I had was suddenly gone- my husband, my child, my friendships, my health, my money- would I be able to find contentment in Christ alone.

I mean I sing it all the time..."In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light my strength, my song."
Really?!  More like "In Christ (plus a few other things) my hope is found...

Philippians 4:13 (most quoted verse by athletes everywhere :) says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  What you may not know is that it follows a passage where Paul is talking primarily about contentment.  In other words, it feels like Paul is insinuating that contentment in Christ is actually possible only by God's strength.

So how do we rely on God's strength to make us content or satisfied?
We find it in who God is and what he has done and has promised to do.

Hebrews 13:5-6 says "...be content with what you have for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'  So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?"

Romans 8 says:
"If God is for us who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?...

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come nor powers, nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

That really is enough.
We will never be separated from the love of God no matter what we face or what we lose or what we don't have.  And we have confidence that he is our helper and a loving Father who only gives good gifts.

Praying that I can believe this with my head, my heart and the way that I live.

2 comments:

  1. Everyone's journey to Christ is at a different point. I rely on the Lord for every need .. With my husbands and my disabilities if we didn't have God in our lives we would be sunk.. Keep journeying and keep questioning.. God will always answer you..
    Robyn

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  2. thank you for sharing this, it is just what i needed to read today.

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