Contentment

I had trouble figuring out what I wanted to write about, but I had to sit down and get something out. There are so many things on my mind, but there is one particular Bible verse section that stood out to me this past week (really, the whole chapter after I sat down to read it all, but I'll focus on this paragraph):

¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

 -Philippians 4:11-13

My family and I are having a bit of a rough spot right now.  A few of you know what's going on; for everyone, I just ask that you keep us in your prayers.

Earlier this week I was having a hard time. We had negative news for something we thought would be positive news. I thought I took the news "ok", but I didn't take it as well as I thought I did. Not really. I had put my hope in something and thought "this has got to be it!". Apparently, God had other plans. Though I wasn't mad at Him, I wasn't happy. I was confused and didn't understand. I surely wasn't content.

Then this verse popped up on a friend's feed on Facebook. It was a gentle reminder about how I need to rely on His strength and not my own. I had not been relying on His strength. I had been letting my thoughts take control. This, in turn, made me angry. I played out scenarios in my mind that were far from kind and far from the person I am and want to be.

Since reading this verse again, after not having read it in a long time, it really does have new meaning to me. Jesus is the only way I can be content in any and all situations. Everything else is based on human emotion or "things". What you can get from people, and "things" that you can get, never, ever, truly satisfy. There's always the "little bit more" factor, even if it's not apparent or immediate. At some point, you need just a "little bit more" to be content. People will fail you. "Things" will never be enough.

But Jesus is enough, and His strength is what will get me and my family through this rough patch. Only if we rely on Him for that strength. So I am choosing to replay these words in my mind, over and over again, daily, so that I'm reminded. Because my mind will forget, even for just a short time, if I'm not intentional in remembering. I can be content.

"I can do all this through him who gives me strength."





-See https://bible.org/seriespage/12-money-bank-philippians-410-23 for a very good study on a bigger section of Philippians: 4:10-23