THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT
You know those moments where you just really want to hear from God about a really specific thing, so you just flip open your Bible to a random page and hope that what you come upon is exactly what you need and are looking for in the moment?
I found myself in a moment like that recently, but, ironically enough, I wasn’t actually intending it to be one of those moments. I was praying to God about a specific thing and decided to read my Bible right before I went to bed. I had an idea about what part of Scripture I wanted to read in, but as I opened my Bible to turn there, without even meaning to, I opened to a different passage of Scripture that spoke right to my heart and gave me exactly what I was needing in the moment.
The thing is, what I was talking to God about and the way in which I was asking Him to change my heart in an area required me to truly be content in Christ. But, in that moment and a lot of moments previously, my heart felt nothing but content in Christ.
I’ve wrestled with that reality for a few months now. Because I know with all of my heart that all satisfaction is truly found in the person of Jesus. But lately, during the moments where I allowed myself to be totally honest with God, my prayers have looked something like this:
“God, I know that all joy and contentment are found only in You. I know that in You alone can we find fullness of joy, but if I am being honest, You are not enough for me right now. My heart is still restless. I’m still longing for more. So, please truly be my contentment, God. Amen.”
It’s messy; I know. But the thing is, it’s real, and that’s all God ever truly wants from us anyway. He knows our true thoughts, but He LOVES when we come to Him and tell them to Him ourselves.
So, to go back to the moment where I was asking God for a specific thing and wrestling with the fact that waiting for it seemed impossible, and I flipped open my Bible to a random page… these are the verses of Scripture that I found highlighted on that page:
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
Opening the Bible to those specific verses meant the world to me, because they are the exact words that my heart needed to hear. They are the exact words that for the next weeks and months and, honestly, for the rest of my life, in every season and no matter what I am going through, I will find strength and joy in clinging to.
The Bible says in Philippians 4:11-13,
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for 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 all this through him who gives me strength.”
And the verse that specifically stood out to me from the chapter from Lamentations was verse 24 that says, “I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
I put those two passages of Scripture together because I think the strength Paul is talking about that he finds through Jesus is realizing that, truly, God in him is enough. And, with Jesus, he lacks nothing because Jesus is his portion.
I am realizing that in those moments where I was telling God that I felt like He wasn’t enough for me, He was showing me all along how He really is all that I need. Because even in the discontentment, coming to Him about it was the only thing that filled me with hope for the future and peace for the now.
I have often found myself saying that only Jesus can satisfy us, but I feel like what I’m coming to realize is that the things of this world can and will satisfy us… but only for a little bit. Because, unlike Jesus, the wells of this world always run dry. They aren’t everlasting, but Jesus is everlasting. He is the never-ending well where no matter how many times we find ourselves coming back for a drink, we will always be met with all the love and all the joy and, yes, all of the satisfaction and contentment. Jesus is our portion, and He is more than enough.
TYJ.
TARA
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” -Lamentations 3:24