Chasing after Contentment

 
       I have always considered myself a fairly content person. I feel like I am better than the average person at NOT comparing myself to others (who really knows though?!).
Even though I consider myself so, I still struggle...

"We are SO out of space in our house. WHY does someone with two kids need a 5 bedroom house?"

"Why do their kids seem so normal? Why do I have to struggle with the things I do with my own child/children?"

"Why would we have to struggle though a job layoff? Have we not been faithful enough? I know so and so has never struggled with this. Are they more faithful than us?"

"Being a faithful servant seems to come so easy to her. She reads her Bible every day, never forgetting, and she always seems happy and encouraging."


     These are only a few things that run through my mind when I'm feeling not good enough. People compare houses, cars, spouses, children, relationships, finances, jobs, our bodies and every other thing you can think of.
Comparison only leaves us never feeling good about ourselves. As the quote goes, Comparison is the joy thief. It truly is. We are actually stealing our own joy. Take just a moment to REALLY let that sink in.

Now THAT is a SAD picture, huh?!

     Most of us wouldn't go and punch ourselves in the face, but yet we are abusing our hearts and our faith in God, daily. We can't always see the physical side of such an internal and emotional struggle, but if it were physical, and we were on the outside looking in, we would be appalled. We would wonder why on earth someone is standing for that kind of abuse.

Yet here we are, dishing it out on ourselves.

     When we compare the standard of our lives to others, not only are we hurting ourselves, but I believe we are also doubting God. We are purposefully crippling our faith. He has an individual, unique, and beautifully tailored plan for each of us. My plan is not yours. Your plan is not mine. My child's plan, is not the same as your child's plan. When we compare our lives to others, in a negative way, we are saying God has it wrong, that He isn't watching after us as closely as He should. That He doesn't care quite as much about us as He does about that other person. What a lie the enemy has put in our hearts.

But since we are now aware of that lie, we can start to do something about it.

    The fact is, we will never, ever be truly content during our time on earth. The reason, is because this world was never made to be our permanent home. It's temporary. It's a passing-by place. Our home is Heaven. Heaven is where the pain, the sickness, the struggle, the hurt, the worry, the unrest...will be no more. C.S. Lewis said it perfectly...

                                             

     This is not the end of the story for us. All these material things and I hate to say it, but even the people in our lives (good and bad), are temporary. God warns us not to store up treasures. We can't take things with us when we leave this earth. I think God also warned us, because He knows that nothing here can satisfy, not things and not people, and not even temporarily. I think it hurts His heart to see us toiling away for more things, knowing that once we get them, we will still not be satisfied. It's like a hamster running on wheel. Always running, never getting any further ahead.

     I guarantee that as you sit, comparing your life to someone else, someone is also sitting and comparing their life, to yours.

     Let's stop the madness. Let's get off that crazy hamster wheel! But how?

     I think the first step, is praying and asking God to make us content with whatever He has planned for us. Let's ask Him to convict our hearts and stop us in our tracks when we find ourselves not being content and comparing ourselves to others. We can pray this not only for ourselves, but for others. Lord, if anyone is comparing their life to mine, convict their hearts. Father, help me not to compare my life and my situation to others. Help us to remember we all have our own set of struggles. Nothing is ever truly as it seems. Help me not to come across in a way that makes me seem like my life is better than someone else's. Let it be apparent, that the only true gain in our lives, is You. Help us to claim victory over the lies that the enemy has tried to feed us. Help us to be for one another and not against. Help each of us to be content, and not to compare, but instead, to be thankful for the unique plans You have made for each one of us.

     Personally, I also know that also, I am so much more content and at peace, when I am regularly in the Word. It is hard to make time on some days, but my life and the people around me, benefit in incredible ways, when I PURPOSE Bible time (even just a few minutes) in my life. I dare you to give it a try, if you aren't already. Contentment is attainable, but only with God. There isn't any other way, even if some people have fooled themselves, or are in the dark about how to obtain it. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 1 Timothy 6:6-7

                                                             

P.S. For those of you desiring to get a little deeper and more consistently into the Word, you can start anywhere, just where you feel led. I am not expert (obviously!), but I do want to share, that the One Year Bible is a great way to go. It has the Bible broken down into fairly short daily readings. That is what I have used, until lately. I stumbled onto the recommendation of a journaling Bible. I have always been a "doodler/note taker", it just has always helped things sink-in, for me. I purchased an ESV journaling Bible and I am loving it. Either way you decided to go, I promise that just a few minutes spent reading the Word each day, will be so worth it. 2015 is the year we claim contentment, with the good and the bad in our lives, because the One in control is ALL GOOD, ALL THE TIME!  Love you all!!!

The trials are over...sike! When you are stuck in the Valley of Baka...

     

      So you guys, I was just telling someone the other day that I think life is one big season of learning. Maybe I'm behind. Maybe some of you already have all this figured out. 
 Life has different chapters, sure, but I USED to think God only wanted to teach me a lesson every now and then. I only needed growth and reminder SOMETIMES. However, I have come to the place, where I am content, knowing that as long as I live on earth, there will be trials. Don't misunderstand. I didn't say I was happy with being in the midst of a trial, I said that I was content with whatever lot God has given me during my time on earth. Although, lots of happy times are tossed around in there, too. 

I feel like I am just going out of one long, rather enduring trial that has gone on for the past couple of years. And wouldn't you know, a brand new trial has already been laid before me. I am not yet ready to talk specifics about the trial. But, just making my point, that we constantly have opportunities to learn and to grow. Think about it. When have you NOT been facing some sort of trial? Sometimes they are small and sometimes they are big, but there is always something. Also, just because we are in a trial , doesn't mean we can't have peace, contentment, and even joy, along the way. We are able to have those things in the midst of a heady trial, only because of God's grace, I realize. 

As I contemplate my latest trial, I came to Psalm 84. Isn't Psalms a place you just want to camp out? It is a place of such hope for me. 

As I read through those verses, I got to this part, 

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools."


I was thinking, "Okay, Lord. My strength is for sure in you. I mean, yes, I totally try to do things in my own strength, but in my heart of hearts, anything I accomplish, is because of your strength, God." 
But then I read about the Valley of Baka, and how they make it a place a of springs. I realized that if it was made a place of streams, it must not have previously been a place of springs. In fact, I bet it was the OPPOSITE of a place of springs. So, I decided to do a tiny bit of research. 
I read that it also means "Valley of the Weeper". Oh...Well...Perfect place for me, as I have been doing quite a bit of weeping lately. I also know that "springs" are refreshing...and a good thing.

So the picture God shows me is this:
I'm in the Valley of Baka..Maybe you're there, too. 
It's dry, it's parched, it's a desperate place that we really have no interest in. If we could, we would take the first train out...heck, the first camel out...anything...just to get away from the heat of the trial...just to run the complete opposite way of the pain. 
 But, if we trust God with our whole hearts, and press forward...if we trudge through the valley, even while our tears are many and streaming down our dusty face, God uses those tears to turn the valley, the horrible place, into something beautiful and refreshing and LIFE-GIVING. 

You know, it's almost sickening just how sticky sweet God's goodness is. Except, we need that grace so badly, that instead of being sickening, we are just nothing but blessed. He is just so good to us, you guys. 
This life on earth, it's not heaven. It's not our home. Bad things happen here. Bad people live here. Hard lives happen. But this is not the end of the story, friends. For those that persevere with God, we will SO be delivered from the harshness that is offered up to us at every turn. 
I am DOWN with that. So down with that. 

So, I may not love trials. But I love my God. I trust Him. I know He is for me...and for you. If I am going through a trial, I know there is a purpose. If I feel God sending me into the Valley of Baka, I don't want to tell Him no. I know He is going to turn it all around for me into something more beautiful than I could ever dream up. If he can turn a desert into a place filled with springs, HOLY SMOKES, what can He do with our lives? Remember how he cares for even the birds?  Matthew 6:26,
 " Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

We are His, and we are valuable to Him. That is why He doesn't desert us while we are in the hard places. He doesn't just get us started and then say, "OH! Your faith only bought you enough for me to get you started. Your on your own now. See you on the other side."
No, no, no. We serve a God who never needs to rest, who never grows weary, and who we don't have to EARN grace from. He sticks it out with us, every step of the way. If that doesn't offer us an overwhelming storehouse of peace, well...then I don't know what does. 

So, again, while I may not be thrilled to be in this trial. I am content. God is enough...today...and for the rest of my days on earth. 

So, I encourage you...if you are going through a trial, if you are in that dry and dusty valley, go ahead... let the tears flow...let them out...but please KNOW that God is going to use those tears, He is going to use the trial. He is going to use you. He is going to whittle and weave and paint and plaster and create a masterpiece out of it all...out of us all.

And quite honestly, I CANNOT WAIT to see the finished product of our lives lived out for Him, brothers and sisters. Thankfully that work of art has already been bought and paid in full. 

Entering the trial a little afraid, a lot weepy, and very shakily, but also knowing that even if some chapters are rough, the ending is going to be great... :)