I
find in this world we constantly deal with discontentment. Often we don’t
mean to be discontent, but we are. I am guilty of this myself. I complain
when the weather is too wet, then too hot, then too dry. I complain when
there is an abundance of milk to deal with and complain when the goats dry up
during the winter. More often the problems of discontentment for most revolve
around finances. I have listened to women who are discontent with the older
car they drive, the inability to have material things, the desire for new
clothes that are not in the budget, a house that is too small and the list
goes on.
If
we dwell on these things what begins to happen is that we realize that life is
not as fulfilling as what we wanted, and we become discontent and even
bitter. At some point we may even feel the need to go to work, or find ways
to make extra money so we can acquire what we don’t have. Or maybe even push
our husbands to do something about the situation. All of these methods of
dealing with this can have negative side effects, some more than others. And
in the end we may be saying to the Lord, “What you have provided for my life
is just not enough for me”.
If we did manage
to buy that new car, the new clothes, move to a bigger house, and so on; would
this solve the problem of a discontent heart? Is this the ultimate answer? I
don’t think so. I have also learned over the years that we as human beings
will always have needs and many wants. We will never naturally be satisfied
with what we have. We will be looking at our list to see what is the next
needed item to make life complete. The Scriptures tell us, “Not that I
speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be
content” Philippians 4:11.
You
see the heart is at the issue. That is not to say that there are not real
needs at hand, but as in all things the heart issues must come first. An
example from my own life is when we had 7 children and lived in an 1100 sq.
ft. home. We truly did need a bigger house, but how I dealt with that was a
heart issue. I had to constantly remind myself that in all situations the
Lord knows all my needs. To pray for a bigger house is good, but to be
discontent with the small one is not. I remember asking myself, “If I was
never able to move from this house would that be ok with me?” I had to put my
heart in a place that said, “Yes, I could live with that”.
The
ultimate solution will come from not only learning to be content with what the
Lord has provided but also to find joy in our life! Discontentment will never
produce a joyful life. In this materialistic society we live in we may find
it hard to wrap our minds around the Scripture that says: And having food
and clothing, with these we shall be content. 1 Timothy 6:8. Imagine,
that does not even mention a home!
So
how does one go from feeding a discontent heart to a heart that is not only
content but joyful? We begin by giving thanks to the Lord for ALL things.
When you wake up in the morning you begin your day by thanking the Lord for
his blessings. Are you familiar with the hymn that says, “Count your
blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath
done!”? That is the place to start.
The
next step is to really focus on what is of value in life. To me the greatest
value I find is in relationships; my relationship with the Lord, my husband
and my children. When I start looking at what I can do right where I am at to
improve my life and begin thanking the Lord for all His blessings daily, I
find I start to value the relationships in my life more. I want to work to
make those a blessing to us all.
I
want to set aside that daily time with the Lord, I want to be a better
helpmeet to my husband; I want to be a better mother to my children. These
things are all actions, discontentment is rarely an action. When we act upon
something such as dwelling upon the goodness of God and what He has provided
and act on this to improve the relationships around us, our hearts change.
This month I would like to encourage us all to daily give thanks for the
Lord’s wondrous provisions in our life and to serve and love the ones He has
placed in our charge. The change will be amazing, the heart the will change
and discontentment will be turned into a contented joy that can only come from
Jesus.
