Beyond My Circumstances

Content....how hard is it to be content? I would be content if...I were thin and pretty, I had a nicer house, a better car, more money, a husband who complimented me, a husband at all, more children - ummm - when I was younger, that is. And so the list goes on...and on...and on. Add that one more thing, improve this one thing and I will be content.....or will I obtain all that, just to be left with this aching, gnawing emptiness that seems unquenchable, all consuming? Oh, where will I find this contentment? How will my heart hunger ever be satisfied?

Contentment is not something found in the have's and have not's of daily living. Contentment is not something found in things or people...my husband can not make me content by his wonderful, god-honoring attitude. My children can not make me content by behaving everyday or picking up after themselves once in a while. A positive balance in my checkbook today does not equal contentment tomorrow. No...it must be something beyond my circumstances.


Contentment is in that One perfect gift God gave....His Son....abiding in Christ, resting in Him, being confident that His Word is true. He is the One who makes it all right. He is the One who enables me to say that I am content no matter what my circumstances. I have lived in plenty, and I was not content. I have lived with little, and I was not content. My broken womb was opened and I was blessed with children, but that did not make my heart content. Those things I long for, that next bigger and better thing that I think will satisfy some ache or that I hope will heal some brokenness inside of me, will not. It will make it feel better for a while, but the feeling lasts only a fleeting moment. The only place to find the true contentment and satisfaction that I long for is in the arms of Jesus, abiding in Him. Trusting His promises. Believing His Words. Spending time with Him daily. Drinking Him in. Knowing Him. Talking to Him. Listening to Him. Ahh..there is rest for my soul.

Yes, there is a secret to contentment, as the apostle Paul writes. It is a simple secret. It is a secret that should be shouted from the mountaintops, shared with the clerk at the grocery store, whispered to our children in their goodnight hugs, clung to when the pain of loss is searing our souls, remembered when our cup overflows. His name is Jesus, and without Him there is not contentment, just constant striving and searching, filling a pitcher, only to find the water seeps out, won't last, doesn't satisfy, leaves us thirsty for...something more. Jesus is far more than we could ever hope for or imagine...if we invite Him to satisfy our desires, He will. If we trust Him to fill our needs, He does. If we ask Him to be our contentment, He is. What a Wonderful Savior, what an incredible Friend!

Will you join me in drinking in Jesus today? Will you experience true contentment? He will teach us together to let go of our "if only's" and live contentedly for Him only!