Contentment

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler (shield) to all those that trust in him.
Psalm 18:30

This was the verse for December 3rd in Grace for the Moment. The title of the devotion was "The Cure for Disappointment". It is so easy for us to feel disappointed with things in life, but why - when we know that His will is perfect?
He is in control, and all things happen under God's divine providence.

I like how Max Lucado put it in the devotional: "Remember, disappointment is cured by revamped expectations".
I want to learn to grade life not by my expectations, but rather with the knowledge that He is in control.
My finite human mind cannot possibly comprehend how His perfect plan will unfold, and disappointment occurs because we put too much stock in our own plans of how life should go.

This devotional went right along with one of my favorite Wednesday night Lakeview sermons that I recently listened to on CD. Regarding Paul's instruction on how to maintain joy, Pastor Mike gave a message on contentment.

Soon after listening to that sermon, I heard another message on the radio along the same lines. I think God was tapping me on the shoulder again...
sermon on contentment
devotional on contentment
radio sermon on contentment

Hmmm... maybe contentment is something I need to be thinking, reading, and writing about? So it has been, and it is really making a difference in my life when I keep these things in my head.

(the verses in Pastor Mike's sermon)

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased (brought low, humbled),
and I know how to abound (be in excess): every where
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Philippians 4:11-12

We are bombarded with every means of discontentment possible in the world. We're told we need this and need that in order to be happy.
My favorite point in the sermon was that television is just a means of promoting new discontentment - it's not even about the actual programs, it's just a means of getting people in front of the television for the commercials. Even most shows are commercials in themselves these days.

We're constantly told what we need in order to be happy; but those wordly guidelines are insatiable. They will never end. Once you have that gadget, you'll want this one next - once you have that, there will be something else you just have to have.

Wordly satisfaction is unattainable; they always leave you wanting more. We try to fill that empty feeling in our lives with stuff, but it just leaves us with cluttered spaces, empty pockets, and empty hearts.

The only contentment that is lasting, through good times as well as bad times, is the joy and gratefulness for what has already been given to us by God through Christ.

If I am content in life because I am a child of God who will someday live with Him eternally, then I can never be disappointed with what I don't have on earth.

Paul was in jail when he wrote the Philippians on contentment.

Shouldn't I, sitting in a warm house on a cold December morning with my books and gadgets and possessions surrounding me, be more than content with life? I am saved by grace, and that is enough for which to be eternally grateful - but He has given me many, many blessings in excess of that.

Thank you Lord for your blessings; even the ones we don't realize we have and the ones we forget to be thankful for.

Help me remember that You drew me near by using the disappointments I caused myself by expecting the world to create my happiness.

Everything other than God will always leave us disappointed in the end. People will always disappoint us at some time or another, gadgets will always be outdated, and superficial desires always leave us satisfied only on the surface.

Lord, help me revamp my expectations. Help me recognize needs, and separate them from wants. Help me derive my joy only from you, because that is the only joy that is not fleeting in this world.