Sunday, May 29, 2016

Beginning Contentment {link}

I'm sick. But, I've been thinking about contentment and hope to write about it soon. Here is a good piece about it from an article Beginning Contentment written by Lindsay Tollefson:
"To experience the peace and joy that is real contentment we have to have a biblical understanding of trials, we have to have the perspective that Paul had on various afflictions and sufferings. We have to become un-American and stop seeing trial as an interruption in our fulfillment of a good life. We have to stop questioning God’s love for us just because we have a bumpy road to walk. When we see ourselves as characters in a beautiful story that God is writing, we can see more clearly what He is doing. Everything evil that we face is ultimately anti-God: death, sickness, slander, pain, etc. He hates all those things. They are part of a bigger story in which they are being defeated. The hardships are ultimately nailed to the cross and taken from us through Jesus.
All our losses are ultimately restored. The trials are valleys that lead to higher mountains, evils that prepare us for greater goodness, pain that makes us ready for the weight of glory we are promised. When we are truly able to see these things as part of God’s story, as a good part of God’s story that He is working for us and through us, we are able to have open hearts to be content. Only then are we ready to believe that He will never leave us or forsake us. Only then can we stop being afraid. Only then are we able to be content with all the things He is doing in our lives, both the painful things and the lovely things."