One word...CONTENTMENT.
I am just as guilty as the next person. Boy, have I found myself complaining and wishing and wanting...that is definitely not cultivating an attitude of gratitude. These two go hand in hand. Contentment and Gratitude. If you are content then you are grateful and thankful for what the Lord has provided for your life. I do believe that we are to live the "abundant" life that God has ordained for us to have. But abundant in what respect? Many will say that abundance in the physical and material. Somehow someone who has a lot isn't necessarily content, grateful of thankful....they only find themselves wanting more, wanting bigger and "better." Discontentment is more likely to be the case here. It seems that the more we have, the more we want and the less happy we are. You look at Hollywood and millionaires around the world, on TV and the news and you find these people in rehab (time after time), or on anti-depressants, searching and looking for meaning. Many of them find that if they give more of themselves and of their time outside of their "world" they feel as if they have purpose. They begin to see that there is a world out there that isn't as fortunate. Tonight's family devotional focused on being 'thankful' and as a family we are doing a small experiment. We are going to be thankful for everything around us and during our day. As my children walked up the stairs tonight, I asked them, "okay, what are you thankful for right now?" They both responded with, "the book?" (it happened to be sitting on one of the steps...as well as other things...). I said "no", think harder...finally they said, "our legs?" (with a little prompting). And I said, "Yeap." So for the rest of the night all I heard was, "I am thankful for my Xbox. I am thankful for my brother. I am thankful for my toothbrush. I am thankful for my pillow." Well, you get the picture. So, Joe and I are also participating. I am thankful for Planet Fitness (despite the soreness that it brings). I am thankful for my husband and my handsome boys. I am thankful for this summer and for our church family. The list goes on...
Contentment is the key to life. It isn't just settling. It is so much more than that. Contentment is being at peace with what you have, with what the Lord has given to you. It stops all the exhausting work of trying to keep up with the neighbors. It looking around you and not feeling jealous or envious of what someone else has because you are happy with your car, or your house, your family. Striving for excellence in morality and in our walk with God. We should never just be content with living a mediocre life, especially in our relationship with Jesus. God wants you to dream big, aim high, but not to get so wrapped up in obtaining and getting that you lose sight of the things He has provided and to thank Him for His provision. I forget to do that a lot. And I am ashamed to admit that. You see, Pastor's wives are not exempt from all sorts of silliness. We are growing and maturing in our walk and faith just as everyone else. There are things in my life that God is working on....if I just let Him.
Have you ever heard the saying,"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."? Well, sometimes in our discontentment we wish or want or even pray for something and then we get it. Finally, God gives you what you want after all of your whining and fretting. And then you find out that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sort of like a story in the Bible of the Israelites. All they wanted was to be like the other nations. What was wrong with wanting a king of their own? One that would rule over them? Well, a lot, since their King was the King of Kings, the Lord God, Himself. Finally, God gave them their desire. He gave them Saul. And after some time, Saul began to sin against God and began to influence the people of God to do turn from Him and worship other gods. Everything that God has told them would happen, happened (He is God after all). They discovered that having a king was no fun at all.
My heart's desire is that my family and I would be content, grateful and thankful for what we have. To live a life of peace in what God has given to us. And to thank Him for the very air we breathe, for the gift of sight, for the ability to read great novels (and blogs...LOL) and to live in a great country such as ours (even with chaos...2012...all you culture warriors get my drift...this is my blog, so I can say anything I want). To laugh with abandon, dance without shame and love without boundaries.
I dare you to try it...just for the rest of the week...be thankful for everything around you and verbalize it...say it..."I am thankful for...." you fill in the blanks. Then tell me how it goes for you. I look forward to hearing from you all...have fun!
I am just as guilty as the next person. Boy, have I found myself complaining and wishing and wanting...that is definitely not cultivating an attitude of gratitude. These two go hand in hand. Contentment and Gratitude. If you are content then you are grateful and thankful for what the Lord has provided for your life. I do believe that we are to live the "abundant" life that God has ordained for us to have. But abundant in what respect? Many will say that abundance in the physical and material. Somehow someone who has a lot isn't necessarily content, grateful of thankful....they only find themselves wanting more, wanting bigger and "better." Discontentment is more likely to be the case here. It seems that the more we have, the more we want and the less happy we are. You look at Hollywood and millionaires around the world, on TV and the news and you find these people in rehab (time after time), or on anti-depressants, searching and looking for meaning. Many of them find that if they give more of themselves and of their time outside of their "world" they feel as if they have purpose. They begin to see that there is a world out there that isn't as fortunate. Tonight's family devotional focused on being 'thankful' and as a family we are doing a small experiment. We are going to be thankful for everything around us and during our day. As my children walked up the stairs tonight, I asked them, "okay, what are you thankful for right now?" They both responded with, "the book?" (it happened to be sitting on one of the steps...as well as other things...). I said "no", think harder...finally they said, "our legs?" (with a little prompting). And I said, "Yeap." So for the rest of the night all I heard was, "I am thankful for my Xbox. I am thankful for my brother. I am thankful for my toothbrush. I am thankful for my pillow." Well, you get the picture. So, Joe and I are also participating. I am thankful for Planet Fitness (despite the soreness that it brings). I am thankful for my husband and my handsome boys. I am thankful for this summer and for our church family. The list goes on...
Contentment is the key to life. It isn't just settling. It is so much more than that. Contentment is being at peace with what you have, with what the Lord has given to you. It stops all the exhausting work of trying to keep up with the neighbors. It looking around you and not feeling jealous or envious of what someone else has because you are happy with your car, or your house, your family. Striving for excellence in morality and in our walk with God. We should never just be content with living a mediocre life, especially in our relationship with Jesus. God wants you to dream big, aim high, but not to get so wrapped up in obtaining and getting that you lose sight of the things He has provided and to thank Him for His provision. I forget to do that a lot. And I am ashamed to admit that. You see, Pastor's wives are not exempt from all sorts of silliness. We are growing and maturing in our walk and faith just as everyone else. There are things in my life that God is working on....if I just let Him.
Have you ever heard the saying,"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."? Well, sometimes in our discontentment we wish or want or even pray for something and then we get it. Finally, God gives you what you want after all of your whining and fretting. And then you find out that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sort of like a story in the Bible of the Israelites. All they wanted was to be like the other nations. What was wrong with wanting a king of their own? One that would rule over them? Well, a lot, since their King was the King of Kings, the Lord God, Himself. Finally, God gave them their desire. He gave them Saul. And after some time, Saul began to sin against God and began to influence the people of God to do turn from Him and worship other gods. Everything that God has told them would happen, happened (He is God after all). They discovered that having a king was no fun at all.
My heart's desire is that my family and I would be content, grateful and thankful for what we have. To live a life of peace in what God has given to us. And to thank Him for the very air we breathe, for the gift of sight, for the ability to read great novels (and blogs...LOL) and to live in a great country such as ours (even with chaos...2012...all you culture warriors get my drift...this is my blog, so I can say anything I want). To laugh with abandon, dance without shame and love without boundaries.
I dare you to try it...just for the rest of the week...be thankful for everything around you and verbalize it...say it..."I am thankful for...." you fill in the blanks. Then tell me how it goes for you. I look forward to hearing from you all...have fun!
I think my face hurts from smiling for a week straight, but that may be a good thing. I have not been able to contain the joy in my heart. God has been so good and it is evident in everything that surrounds us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post!! I look forward to reading the next one!