The Secret To Being Content

I get tired of earth, don't you?

There's bills and illness and sadness and tragedies and difficult relationships and crises and stress. Need I go on? And yet, God tells us we need to be content in any circumstance.

. . . I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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 everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13

Stupid Paul. He makes the rest of us look bad.

But what is the secret he learned? How can we be content in any situation?

Is it fair of God to expect that of us when we're struggling? How can I be content when my budget doesn't work or when a loved one is taken from me or when someone I care for is sick? How do I cultivate a spirit of contentment when all seems hopeless?

Stupid Paul said it best.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

You gotta give it to the guy. He's one smart cookie.

We can be content when we remember that this is not all there is. I gain reassurance and hope by knowing this life is temporary. I won't be here forever. The best is yet to come.

“Being content does not mean we are satisfied. In fact, to be content is to know we will always be groaning on this side of eternity. Yet when we believe that fullness will come, that there is more than this life, we live with contentment.”

Lisa Graham McMinn, The Contented Soul
(found in devotional, Mornings with Jesus, January 30th’s devotion)

The secret to being content? Fix your eyes on the eternal. Remember this is not all there is.

How will you practice being content today?


For more In Other Words posts, visit Loni at Writing Canvas.



Photo Credit: Sentrawoods.