Contentment 101

If you had me as a teacher in the last five years you probably remember getting a mini-course in Contentment 101. It came in the form of a devotional. I told you, “Be where you are. Don’t miss the moment. While you’re here studying, don’t wish it away, even when it gets hard. Maximize whatever this situation brings. Make new friends. Study hard. Take time to exercise. Stay balanced. Be here!”

It’s human nature, I suppose, to live either in yesterday or tomorrow, but when we do that we miss today.

Look back. What memories do you savor most? I have lovely memories of being on a “cooking chair” next to my grandma. She taught me to prepare food with love and care. I wish she were still alive. I’d love to be able to share my adult life with her. But see? There’s joy and regret tied up in that one.

As humans it’s easy to plague ourselves with both the “Oh, if only’s…” AND the “Oh, those were the great days” feelings. So, both negative and positive things can keep us locked in the past.

But we also do it for future events.

Remember when you were in the last months of your final year in high school? If you were like me, you were excited about going to university. I thought, “I can’t wait to get to Evangel College. It’s going to be so cool. I’ll bet I’ll meet all kinds of neat people…maybe even my future husband.” (And I did! Forty years ago today we got engaged! ☺).

Or more often we fret about the future. We worry, “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to handle that when it comes.” Or “What if this…or that…?” And we lay awake at night stewing.

All of this robs the moment.

At this juncture of my life, my question to myself is this: Can I live up to the challenge I’ve launched toward my students?
H-m-m-m!

The Bible is clear that being content with my circumstances is the best way to live. These verses have been jumping out of my Bible lately:


“Godliness with contentment is great gain…” I Timothy 6:6

“Be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’” Hebrews 13:5b-6

“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 everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-12

---

Still in my mind, too, is a conversation I had with my neurologist several months ago. I was still in the shock stage after the diagnosis and he was patiently answering my questions and concerns. In his quiet, warm way he said, “I know we can’t choose how we die, but if I could choose, I think I might choose ALS.”

“What? (I was shocked!) Why?”

Over the next few minutes he calmly helped me see that my disease is relatively pain free. There are no treatments. There are months (sometimes more than a year) of preparation time, not days or weeks. The mind stays totally sharp. Even the death itself is not a desperate thing, but peaceful. “So,” he restated, “If I could choose I might choose ALS as my way to go.” Then he got a twinkle in his eye, “My friend said he’d like to just drop over dead of a heart attack, but not me! I’m a bit of a control freak, I guess, but I’d like knowing ahead of time about when I am going to go, so I have the time to put everything in order, say goodbye, and finish things.” Then he told me that he also has a “deep faith.” Ah-ha! I thought so! There was a peace about him that made me wonder if he was a believer.

Looking back I can see that he was telling me, “Want what you have. Be content. Don’t worry. Yes, I know this is tough, but don’t miss the moment.”

I’ll be very honest with you. My biggest temptation right now is to long to be able to speak clearly. “Oh, if only…” I yearn.

But I’ve been trying to remember to thank God for what I do have--my fingers, for example, because I can still type 90 words per minute. At least I can be articulate on paper. My fingers can fly over the keyboard almost as fast as my brain can generate new thoughts.

Also, it seems that my disease is progressing very slowly, if at all, and that’s clearly a miracle!

And I’m sitting around feeling sad I am that I can’t TALK clearly?! “Wake up, girl, and thank God for what you do have!” I remind myself.

How about you? Have you thanked God today for your fingers? Or have you thanked him that you can speak clearly? Or that you can walk at a normal gait? Or are you like me…fretting about what you don’t have…worrying about what’s around the corner?

Let’s remind each other to be content whatever our circumstances,
NOT LETTING YESTERDAY...NOR TOMORROW...STEAL OUR TODAYS.