Contentment

From derrach.blogspot.com - 8/23/06

Okay, something's been eating away at me for several days now and I have finally come to a point where I feel I should write about it.

Recently there have been several people in our church family that have come upon very hard times. I'm talking cancer, hospitalization, car accidents, etc. As these people and issues have weighed heavily on my heart and demanded much attention in prayer I have been moved. Moved to what? I haven't exactly figured that out yet but I do know that surrounded by these events I have been taken to a new place of contentment. Content? you may ask, yes, content...and here's why:
Often I can, as easily as anyone, get caught up in the consumer drenched American culture. The commercials, web banners, billboards, and sound bites, along with everyone having a new something begins to take a toll on the mind. I find myself looking at what I've got with discontentment. I start looking at the ads and the neighbors' (or family & friends) stuff with envy and then begin to think that fatal thought, "I need ______."

Woah.

So I've been reminded this week of how incredibly GOOD I really have it. My wife isn't fighting for her life in the hospital. My family is healthy and living very blessed. I have no major financial needs that are driving me out of my home or into starvation. I can see. I can walk. I can talk. I can breathe on my own. And I've got my whole life still ahead of me with nothing but possitive things to look forward to. I HAVE GOT IT ALL!!! No, I don't drive an Audi TT turbo. No, my house is not a mansion. I do have debt. No, I don't have the latest greatest cell phone. No, I'm not famous. I don't have a dishwasher. No my wife's diamond isn't 5 carats. BUT, let me say this again, I HAVE GOT IT ALL!!!

I'm content. I have everything I need. I don't have to live wanting, I can be satisfied, and I AM! I have love, I have health, I have my needs taken care of AND THEN SOME. All of this has made me so thankful and content. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." And the next verse in the message translation says, "Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough."

Woah.

Again.

So content I am and content I will remain. The people around me that are going through all these hard time, I know some of them very well and are watching as they go through the valley and you know what...they've got the content thing down...AMAZING.