contentment

Love the mornings when the sun is shining! Sure does something great for the soul! 

Anyhow, onto what this post is supposed to be about. Contentment. It's a little bit of an intimidating word, isn't it?? I think it kind of is. Contentment is not something that come naturally to most people, myself included. It seems like if we just had that something else then we would be content, right? Yeah, sure. We trick ourselves into thinking that. But true contentment is not based off of material possessions or even one's place in life. Its an odd concept really.

I have just recently begun to experience true contentment. The kind that Paul talks about in Philippians. He says:

"...I am not saying this because I am in need, for 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, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (4:11-13 NIV)

Amazing stuff, isn't it?! I am convinced that Paul did not just wake up one morning and discover that he was content. It was a process, even for someone with as much zeal for God as Paul had. Many things are a process. They take time. So it is with contentment. It takes hard work sometimes and sometimes it hurts. But ultimately God is the one doing the work in our hearts. We have to give it all to Him though.

Contentment is not feeling happy all of the time, or putting a plastic smile on our faces. But, according to dictionary.com it is: 'the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind.' (Thanks, dictionary.com  for telling me that it is the state of being contented...)I like the word satisfaction. It is being satisfied whether life is going great, or whether things are tough. It is knowing you'll be alright, and you will continue to go on, living life, praising God, even though things aren't always wonderful. It is a deeper trust in God.

Now, I am not here to boast on my contentment, because I am not there yet, and frankly, even if I was, it is God's working, not mine. It is a process, as I said. I am on the road, I am learning, but I have not reached the 'destination' of contentment, if there is one. Sometimes I think the journey is just as important, maybe more so than the destination. God seems to use the journey so often to change us and mold us more into his likeness. Sometimes there isn't a destination that we ever reach. Life is a growing process, a journey. Often times we don't fully reach contentment on this side of heaven. But it is good to know that God is doing a work in us. 

Contentment really is what God wants for us. It is a sort of peace that can't be explained. It is a trust in God. It really should be our striving, as we seek to be more like God. But we have to have a willing heart. We have to want to change. Now, I am not saying that God can't work in a hardened heart, because he does, often. But if we aren't focusing on Him, if we're just kind of halfway living for God, we're not as likely to experience a lot of growth. Relationship takes both sides investing in the other. He will never leave us, but we must desire the things of God. He will grow in us, if we truly want to know Him more. He wants nothing less for his children! 

It makes me feel good to know that God desires me to know Him more, and that He will and does help me to know him! I fail often times, and get scared. But I am glad that I serve a God of second chances. I serve a God of mercy. He is there, waiting to pick me back up when I fall.