Learning Contentment
“In everything give thanks.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
During the 5+ years on our unexpected journey, one of the things I felt continually challenged by was to “learn to be content” in whatever situation I was in. And it was challenging! Being content while I was sick, while my husband was lying in silence on a hospital bed, while I continually faced financial challenges, and while every way I looked there was so much I needed to deal with…it was not a simple matter to be “content.” And yet, God helped me to do just that. His loving grace enabled me to find peace and rest, to find a place of contentment day by day. I’m so grateful.
I wish that contentment, once achieved, could just become permanent. But the very challenge to “learn to be content in whatever state I am in” makes it clear that it’s a continual challenge. I daily face new barriers to contentment. I find myself coming back to the Lord again and again asking for His fresh help and grace to be content. He is patient and faithful—He helps me over and over come to a rest, a peace and, yes, a true contentment in each situation.
One recent day when I was dealing with some physical issues, I was finding it hard to be content. I wanted change. I wanted healing. I read a devotional about a 64-year-old lady who had been bedridden for more than 16 years. She was in constant pain and unable to move. The only thing she could use was her thumb on her right hand. But everyone who was with her talked about how joyful and thankful she was. She used a 2-pronged fork with that thumb to put on her glasses, feed herself, sip tea through a tube, and turn pages of her large Bible. Everything she did was with the use of that right thumb. She thanked the Lord continually for the use of that thumb, for His goodness to her, and for His saving grace.
Contentment isn’t learned all at once and it’s over with. It’s a daily process of being thankful for whatever blessings we have. I’m still on the journey of learning contentment! Each morning as I thank the Lord for a new day, I ask Him to help me have a heart of contentment. I’m so grateful for His mercy and grace to me. He is so faithful!
Lord, as we go through the seasons of our lives, develop this contentment in us. Help us to wait patiently for You to work. Amen.
I can’t tell you how many times a devotional you have written has been shared here at just the time I needed to hear your words. I for one am very thankful you began to write them and chose to share.
Thank you for your willingness to share your painful journey and being honest about the fact that it is not always ‘easy’. As Believers, we know in our hearts “that all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose…..” As you point out, the ‘work together’ is sometimes the hardest part.
God Bless you, dear heart. And God Bless you all.