Finding Contentment
Posted by: TammyThe Bible says we should find contentment where ever we are in life. Phillipians 4:12 (NIV) says, ” 12I 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.”
Hebrews 13:5 , 5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
I admit, I’ve been finding it difficult to be content lately. I want something different in life right now; more land, more space between neighbors, less stress, a bit more room in our home. Yet, God continues to remind me that I should be content. So many times when we give in to those cravings and desires and forget that we should find contentment and be happy with what we do have right now, we overextend ourselves financially. The Bible warns that the debtor will become slave to the debt.
Our culture would have you think that you need so much and that it’s OKAY to go into debt to get it. Our culture almost encourages and breeds discontent and that the status quo isn’t okay. In a way, I’ve been suffering from that except that but somehow part of me keeps thinking that I want something that’s okay for me to want. It’s okay for me to want a bigger homestead. Somehow, my brain is saying that wanting a bigger homestead is better than wanting a new car or a fancy kitchen.
BUT IT’S NOT!
My husband pointed out that we’d be stretching ourselves to get the property I wanted would stretch us, financially. We’d be refinancing our current home and my dream property for 30 years to make the combined payment and we’ll be paying off our current home in just 9 years. He pointed out that properties like this come up all the time and that being patient and continuing to save would be the best plan. Have I mentioned that this isn’t generally how my husband speaks about this kind of stuff? It was an eye-opened to hear him talk and I realized that this is how God was answering my prayer on the subject.
So instead of praying for a way to buy something that would stretch us financially and put us at risk, I’m praying for that contentment that the Bible says we should find no matter where we are in life. While there might be things we’re not content with in our lives, at almost any moment there are things that we can be content with even if some things aren’t ideal. Our house isn’t ideal for us anymore but we can afford it, it’s a roof over our heads and we can work on making it better for our situation. My property isn’t ideal for my vision of a homestead but I continue to work on making the best of it and remembering that I still have a lot more land that a lot of people.
All I can do is remember to find contentment where I am at this point in my life.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Well said thoughts Tammy.
I have been in those same shoes many, many times.
Here is what I wrote on my mirror a couple of months ago.
“Be content with such things as you have.
Don’t look past the blessings, to illusions of future happiness.
God supplies
God provides”
I enjoy looking at real estate, to a fault.
Making me think of “illusions of future happiness”.
So I have aggressively, settled in, rearranged and rearranged again. Have taken a hammer to a wall or two, to open up the rooms. Painted. It is not perftect, it is not complete, but this home is a blessing to many people.
I thank you for sharing your heart, again and again.