Contentment

     If it were possible, I would teach women everywhere how to be content.  The world we live in puts the focus on physical things being the key to contentment.  “When we get a house, I’ll finally be able to be happy.”  “A second child would complete my happiness, fulfill my life.”  Or perhaps, “If we could just pay off this debt, I’d be able to be content.”  These are not wrong things to want, of course!  But making such things the pivotal force in our lives that determines whether or not we are content is the wrong way of going about it.

Paul, through many tribulations and difficult times, discovered the ultimate way to be content.  He says “… I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:11-13)  Whether we are content or not is not based upon our circumstances.  Poor or rich, calm or chaotic, contentment is a choice.  Not only that, but it is a choice that should stem from our confidence and relationship with God through his son.

     It is so easy to get caught up in the world’s ideas of success or failure.  We can subconsciously determine how we feel about our life based on outward signs.  What car do we drive?  What kind of neighborhood do we live in?  What school do our children go to?  What job does our husband have?  Do we work outside the home?  If we don’t have the ‘right’ answers for these questions when we meet new people, we feel ashamed or at the least self-conscious.  But these temporary things are not what determine our value or our success in God’s eyes. 

     How do we learn to move beyond the world’s ideas and choose to be content with whatever state our lives are in?  Paul helps us with that in the very same chapter.  He tells us to “rejoice in the Lord,” in verse 4.  He goes on to instruct us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7)  Yes, those bills are scary and trouble us.  A bad neighborhood definitely will give you sleepless nights!  Longing for another child can rend a heart with sorrow.  But we must rely on God to help us through such troubled times.  We are reminded to trust in God, to be thankful for what we have, and to rejoice.  Not just rejoice, but rejoice in the Lord!  We are not facing this life alone, and we do not have to bear our burdens in solitary agony.  If something threatens our contentment, God wants us to tell him about it, and then do our best to let go of the parts we can’t change ourselves.

     God wants us to be content.  He’s given us the keys to finding that contentment through him.  As a woman, a wife and mother, I rely on those keys in order to find the peace he promises me.  I hope and pray that all other women can find this peace and contentment as well.