Can We Be Content?
For most of us, this pandemic has brought on more pressures and anxiety that can easily turn into what I call “living with the blues.” So often during those winter months, when darkness seems to come so early in the afternoon, and the cold kept me inside day after day…….I would experience quite a few weeks of “living with the blues.” Not quite a depressed mood, but not good. This pandemic started around the time of those shortened darker days of winter and we still have many, many months to go. It will continue to test our hearts and bring darkness to many folks. It is common for us to know this sense of loss and despair. Even the mighty King David of Israel experienced much darkness and trouble as he wrote in many of his Psalms. Just read a few lines of Psalm 118 and you will see it.
But my question today is, can we realize contentment during this pandemic that has changed the world (at least how we can interact in it)? Is there a way to still be content? The Webster dictionary defines content as “satisfied or adequately happy.” With all the restrictions and cautions we need to follow these days which have permeated so much of our everyday routines in life; it surely is trying. So what did Paul say to the Phillippians in his letter in Chapter 4:12. “ I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”
In this the greatest of nations in the world today, are we so consumed in our desire to want more and more of what we see flash across the screens we spend hours a day viewing? We can then get almost anything sent right to our doorsteps as we procure them from Amazon, Walmart, or the countless websites on the internet. Do all our possessions we accumulate over the years buy us true contentment in our hearts? No, and it never will provide what God’s peace brings us when we seek it.
How often do we often act like the times when we (or our young children or grandchildren) got that Christmas present and ripped off the paper, gave the gift a slight glance, before grabbing the next one? Can we seek contentment in our life and know it as Paul did? The road to contentment is on that same path to knowing God as we journey day by day. I know God doesn’t call for us to deny ourselves of all the blessing from the prosperity He provides. But, in the letter Timothy , he does tell us not to put our hopes and happiness in riches and possessions that will one day be rust and dust. Paul calls us to fix our hope “on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.” 1Timothy 6: 17
Let us be generous and do the good works that God intends for us to do. The small and larger acts of kindness and the fulfillment gleaned from a loving heart will bring contentment. Even in this tumultuous time we can find moments in everyday life to open our hearts and help unlock the secret of being content that Paul described to the church of :Phillippi so long ago. Amen
A song we all know; https://youtu.be/IOdzLzusekA