Contentment

Contentment is a big struggle for a lot of people. God encourages us in the Bible to dream big dreams, and to do great things for Him. But then, paradoxically, there are entreaties to contentment, to bloom where you are planted, and to make the most of every situation. As a single person, my biggest desire was that the unmet desire for a husband would magically disappear. I always felt like as long as it was still a want in my life, I never really would be surrendered to God. This became, as I think it does for many, a topic at issue with the Lord. It was easy to say BUT GOD, YOU PUT THIS HERE, fill it, or take it away. I think I just mis-understood contentment.

Do you sometimes fight with the tension of appreciating the now, but eager for the hope of tomorrow's promise?

I talk to mothers who are struggling with the stage of life their kids are in and want to get to the next stage, but know that this is a one-shot deal "there are no re-runs". What about the people who are working in the job that God has given them for today, but nursing massive dreams?

We are encouraged in scripture to dream God-sized dreams. Nehemiah dreamt of the walls being rebuilt, Moses dreamt of a promised land, David dreamt about bringing the Ark of the covenant back into the temple.

How do live in the now and the not yet??

I was listening to a Joyce Meyer podcast and (as always) something little that she said, carried a life-changing truth. She said "contentment does not equal apathy".

It's possible that we think of contentment as a place to arrive at and be totally OK with. I often think of contentment as the perfect place that I just want to camp out in and tuck my head into the chest of God and live there, that nothing else will ever pique my interest or catch my eye.

And that is the struggle..... but contentment is not a place, or a destination. It is not apathy!

I have always heard it, but now I think I better understand it when we say "contentment is an attitude". I am starting to see that contenment creeps up into your life not in a momentary epiphany, but rather in a slow realization that your heart and mind are different. That things just are different!

What do you think about contentment?