I have recently been asked if I ever wrote about
contentment. I have implied this but
never have taken it on directly. For me contentment
has been like a summer breeze. I mean it is wonderful when you feel it, and uncomfortable
when it drifts away. I experience it fully
at times and think, “Wow! I have finally
found contentment!” then, Whoosh! It is
gone.
As I think about this, I have begun to see it takes a
daily surrender of my will to God’s. I
have to decide to live in contentment, accepting what God brings. It is not a once for all decision, but for me
needs to be made day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.
I do not like change and find great contentment in a
routine day that never changes. However,
as my parents point out, that is not real life.
Life is often unpredictable and brings
new situations which disrupt the contentment I feel in the routine.
So, what do I do?
I can cry and whine, as I confess I do all too often, or I can find my
contentment outside my circumstances. My
best contentment comes as I sink into God’s hand, and stay there in the ups and
downs of life. When I am snuggled into
God’s hand there is peace and contentment because God does not change. So where is my contentment when it seems to
have left me? Maybe it is not with me
because I jumped out of the shelter of God’s hand!
