Contentment

Contentment is defined as freedom from worry or restlessness.  Another definition is peaceful satisfaction. There is something awesome about those two words side by side, peaceful satisfaction!  How often can any of us truly say we have a peaceful satisfaction? How amazing would it be to be free from worry and restlessness?  ​

I have learned how important it is to be grateful and how it is interwoven with contentment.  It is amazing what being content can do for your soul. The more thankful I am the more amazingly content I am throughout the day.  The more I pause to focus on God’s blessings, to soak in contentment, the less I am overwhelmed. 

It is almost impossible to be incredibly grateful for something and have a negative emotion at the sametime.  For example, the more we think of our blessings and the things for which we are thankful, an emotion like anger can start to subside.  

I have learned this with my kids.  If I can get them to stop in their tracks when they are grumbling and start listing things they are thankful for it changes the mood of the room.  And, inadvertently when I also start listing things I am thankful for I become less frustrated with their behavior. Sometimes I probably make them mad (with a touch of eye rolling of course) at my initial request to list things for which they are thankful in the middle of stress. If they play along with me you can see something shift within all of our hearts.  

When I think of my childhood, I think of so many hours playing at my Uncle Frank's house.  His house was a magical playground for all of us! But one of the things imprinted in my mind forever is the endless praises he would say out loud to God. You never knew from moment to moment when he would talk out loud to God with no reservations.  He always seemed content and thankful, thanking God for the simplest of things out loud like he was talking to a friend. To anyone in his presence, he would always say, ‘I love you but God loves you more!” I think he truly wanted each person he came into contact with to feel the love, peace, and contentment that had been woven deep inside of him.  It was a thankfulness that literally seemed to pour out of him.  

My pastor frequently says that, “Anxiety is a first world problem, it isn’t a third world problem.”  It is basically the concept of when you are simply thankful for a little food and water, nothing else matters.  There are so many people who have little to nothing and maybe just enough to make it through one more day or one more meal. When I really start to think that though, I find myself coming back to all of the complexities in our lives, what blessings we have, but also how those exact things can tear us down.

We fill our lives with so many things coming at us from different directions that it can lead to lack of contentment but also full-blown anxiety. We have so many activities and so much “stuff” in our homes that it is overwhelming.  Anything online can be a limitless scroll. We have to be able to balance the constant influx of images, links, and news feeds to figure out what is too much and when to step away. 

 We can find ourselves comparing against unattainable standards. Something that looks picture perfect on the outside but really isn’t.  Pictures are edited, deleted, and retaken all the time. We have an endless roll of film to use until we can get just the right shot. We measure our contentment based on objects instead of the easy rest God can give us deep within.  I am learning more every day there is absolutely nothing that can give me as much peace and happiness as when I empty myself and truly feel God’s presence. 

Comments from others can be taken to heart and we feel offended easily instead of measuring our worth and contentment through what God says.  What if instead of becoming offended we stop, weigh it, and measure it against God’s words to decide if we should own something or discard it?  How much happier would our days be? How much less angry would we be? If we stop immediately and think of human imperfections with grace and quickly move on, how much more productive would we be?  

This morning I am finding myself incredibly grateful for the obvious and ever present support in my life; my husband, my girls, family, friends, work family and my church.  I am also thinking of the simple things like Christmas lights, laughter, the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in my house, and an elf on the shelf who is reading my bible this morning.   

I find myself thinking about the not-so-simple devices that fill our home like an Amazon Echo Show that we can talk to and add things to a shopping list without picking up a pen, paper, or a device.  Or the TV that is playing worship music in the background. And some amazing sound machines that keep my kiddos asleep a little bit longer while the sounds of the morning begin. 

I find myself thankful for this season and the magic of snow falling.  When I first see snow falling it always feels like God is sprinkling a bit of magic down for us to just slow our pace and see the beauty of it all.  I’m hoping as you read this you are filled with the thoughts of things you are thankful for that are unique to you and your family. I pray that we can all slow down a bit today to feel contentment and joy, with a touch of childlike wonder!  

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  Philippians 4:11

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.  Phillipians 4:12

But Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  1st Timothy 6:6-7

Author: Heather Lynch