Having It All ... Is It Enough?
We have settled into our house in rural Manitoba and I'm amazed at it. I have sunshine streaming into the living room and a view of nature through every window in the house. There is a library for reading in, a woodstove to warm up beside, and a new washer and dryer. The balcony of the second floor looks down upon the living and dining rooms and has a railing that is the perfect height for a ballet barre. What else could I want? Maid service perhaps.....
This home is a dream come true but it still isn't enough for me. My surroundings (as beautiful as they are) do not bring me contentment. I can still find things to be grumpy about (the dishes piled high) or scared of (what is living in those woods around our place?) I can still be proud, selfish, and angry. I can have everything I thought I wanted and still want more. Left to my old self, there is never that deep abiding sense of ultimate peace and well-being. There isn't contentment. It only comes from Christ.
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what is 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 everrything through him who gives me strength." The Apsotle Paul in Phil. 4:12-13 (NIV)
So whether you have your dream home or are staying on someone else's couch; whether you have vocational satisfaction or are doing something just to pay the bills; whether you are surrounded by loved ones or find yourself alone; whether you have accomplished all your life goals or have no intentions of ever writing that list, you CAN be content in Christ. He is enough.
He is enough because of who He is: God. He is enough because He provides us with what we need: grace, strength, love, wisdom, forgiveness, freedom, etc. He is enough because He keeps His promises. But sometimes we have to wait to receive His revelation, experience His provision, or see those promises fulfilled. And at those times - times of grief, temptation, uncertainty - we lament and cry out to Him. We give voice to the words of the prophet Jeremiah and wait for Him.
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my protion; therefore I will wait for him." " Lamentations 3:22-24
This home is a dream come true but it still isn't enough for me. My surroundings (as beautiful as they are) do not bring me contentment. I can still find things to be grumpy about (the dishes piled high) or scared of (what is living in those woods around our place?) I can still be proud, selfish, and angry. I can have everything I thought I wanted and still want more. Left to my old self, there is never that deep abiding sense of ultimate peace and well-being. There isn't contentment. It only comes from Christ.
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what is 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 everrything through him who gives me strength." The Apsotle Paul in Phil. 4:12-13 (NIV)
So whether you have your dream home or are staying on someone else's couch; whether you have vocational satisfaction or are doing something just to pay the bills; whether you are surrounded by loved ones or find yourself alone; whether you have accomplished all your life goals or have no intentions of ever writing that list, you CAN be content in Christ. He is enough.
He is enough because of who He is: God. He is enough because He provides us with what we need: grace, strength, love, wisdom, forgiveness, freedom, etc. He is enough because He keeps His promises. But sometimes we have to wait to receive His revelation, experience His provision, or see those promises fulfilled. And at those times - times of grief, temptation, uncertainty - we lament and cry out to Him. We give voice to the words of the prophet Jeremiah and wait for Him.
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my protion; therefore I will wait for him." " Lamentations 3:22-24
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