Hello friends!
What does contentment look like to you?
Throughout the shelter in place, I have had an opportunity to see firsthand what contentment vs discontentment looks like in action…
-When my 9 year old is contentedly building a new Lego set and then setting it up with all of the others to wage a battle scene, he is the picture of contentment.
When he is bored with that and laying on my kitchen floor asking me what we are going to do next, he is not!
-When my 14-year-old is diving into a new Tom Clancy novel and immersing himself in the fictional world that it provides, he is the picture of contentment.
When he is restless, missing his friends and “sharing” his teenage angst with the family, he is not.
-When my husband is embarking on a new project around the house, full of energy and vision, he is the picture of contentment.
When he has fixed, touched up, and reworked everything he can get his hands on and is walking in circles trying to determine what comes next, he is not.
-And when I am busy, wrapped up in my illusion of control, taking care of everyone needs to a level that makes me feel successful, I am the picture of contentment.
When everyone is bickering, irritable, bored and restless leaving me feeling helpless to make it all better, I am not.
What does contentment look like in your house? In your life?
Webster defines contentment as “a state of happiness or satisfaction.”
When Paul speaks of contentment in the book of Philippians, under house arrest, I am not convinced that he was experiencing a time in his life filled with happiness. However, he certainly knew what it meant to be satisfied. Paul knew that contentment comes from trusting God to be our everything and meet all our physical, spiritual and emotional needs. Biblical contentment is the realization that only God can satisfy us.
During this set apart time in our lives, many of us have experienced a stripping away of activities, experiences, and relationships that aided in our overall satisfaction or contentment with life. Most likely none of these were evil in any way, but maybe they were distracting. Often times, the things that we are using to satisfy us are a far second from what God wants to do in our lives and in our hearts.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).
In this verse, we are not told to strive for satisfaction, we are simply called to receive it from the Lord. Not only that, but we are promised that the satisfaction of the Lord is strong enough to carry us through whatever we face each day. What a gift!
What was stripped away from your life, during this pandemic, that you now see you didn’t really need or that didn’t need to hold as much importance in your life?
How will you reprioritize in light of what we have learned about godly contentment and the satisfaction that comes from the Lord?
This week’s reading:
05/18: Philippians 4:10-23
That’s it!!!
This is the last week of our study of the book of Philippians!
I will have some questions for your reflection on Wednesday.
Please be in touch anytime!
Love you all!
Hugs!
Kinsee
