Contentment: Soul Satisfaction

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

Contentment at times can be like a mirage of a life-promising oasis. The closer you get, the further away that which we desire becomes, like a vapor of disappointment. Contentment is something we all want yet can seldom define. Living in our world, it is a thirst that can not be quenched. Instead of feelings of peace, security, and satisfaction, emptiness echoes in the hallways of our hearts.

The boxer Muhammad Ali was known as "the champ," arguably the most famous athlete of his generation. He was on top, and his entourage of trainers and various helpers shared the adulation with him. But the party ended, leaving many of Ali's loyal followers disillusioned--and in some cases, destitute. Ali himself, now halting in speech and uncertain in movement, says "I had the world, and it wasn't nothin'."

This has not been a week of contentment for me. I have been mugged by a gang of contentment robbers. To quote the king “I’m all shook up.” A surgery gone wrong, additional appointments and tests. There has also been unpleasant new procedures. More blood transfusions and another round of trial drugs to fight off a stubborn infection. Most disappointing to me, all of this has prolonged timelines and has sidelined me temporarily on the transplant list.

All of this brings feelings of frustration, worry, anger, impatience, and loneliness. I stand watching contentment sailing over the horizon, leaving me stranded on the shores of discontentment.

The dictionary defines contentment as feelings and showing of satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, and situations. The goal of satisfaction is shallow and not very satisfying. Our society views satisfaction as simply good enough. This, at best, is a very temporary settling for our current situation.

Our god is too often materialism. Advertising slowly drugs our minds, emotions, and will. The mission is to never allow us to reach any level of contentment. Products often have built in a planned obsoleteness. This means before you get your new computer out of the box, there is already a computer that is bigger, better, and faster. That which you could not do without will be tomorrow’s junk. Our society is depending on the fact that you will never be content.

The world is full of people who are making a good living but living poor lives. source unknown

Corrie ten Boom said, “I've learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!"

True contentment calls us to a soul satisfaction. Contentment is much more than a feeling. It is a heart that is totally consumed and satisfied in Jesus.

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:11-13

Paul provides for us a portrait of contentment. This was not a picture painted in some mountaintop retreat or the safe confines of academia. Paul’s studio is a prison. His canvas is a life filled with persecution and every imaginable pain. His future seems dangerously uncertain. His contentment is not a result of his giftedness, self-effort or discipline. Yet somehow, Paul has learned an eternal secret—how to be content in “whatever circumstances.”

Paul discovers contentment by living a life that would satisfy few of us. Paul has contentment because he desires, and will settle for nothing less than, the fullness of God found in Christ alone.
Contentment is not a matter of getting what I want, but in intimately knowing and experiencing what I have. That is why in spite of his circumstances and needs, Paul can say with a Holy confidence and anticipation: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!”

Contentment does not come from trying to escape our lives. It is not about emptying our selves, but by being totally filled with His presence. Contentment is not about desiring less, but supremely more.

Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:4-6

Contentment floods my life as my soul delights and is satisfied with my God who is love, mercy, grace, wisdom, provider, protector and strength. This contentment changes and molds my life. I can have a deep confidence in Christ. I slowly cease from striving and enjoy His rest. I must surrender concerns about my future to the Composer of my days. I will learn to set aside the futility of accumulating that which is temporal and only drains away my contentment. I will live in wonder as God opens before me His treasure chest of spiritual blessings.

* I will remember that I am a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus.
* I will totally depend on God meeting every need according to His riches in Christ.
* I will make my heart’s desire to worship and glorify God.

In Him, I will be completely satisfied. God guarantees it for no less than eternity.

So if you don’t mind, I will return to the garden of contentment where the Lover of my soul awaits.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear,
falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.
In The Garden - Words and Music by Charles Austin Miles

Dan

Anxiety-Free Living

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. George Muller

Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all others thoughts are drained. Arthur Somers Roche

The other day, I got stuck on the merry-go-round of worry. As anxiety grows, my thoughts seem to form an unending cycle of unanswerable questions. One concern pushes another until reality and logic have little impact. So I accelerate round and round until I lose my perspective and move dangerously close to the edge of depression.

To make matters worse, there is a bully who will not let me escape my anxious thoughts. He just pushes harder and harder making it seem impossible to jump free of the ride of emotions. You might have seen him lurking about the shadows of your life. He is looking for moments of uncertainty and vulnerability.

This bully wants to intimidate you and shake up your faith. He hopes to disorient you and take away your peace and rest and leave you with panic and stress. The bully is called “what if”.

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day. Abraham Lincoln

When it seems you cannot stop worrying, you will hear his taunts:

“What if” things get worse?
“What if” this happens?
“What if” they misunderstand me?
“What if” I cannot work and provide for my family?
“What if” the infection grows?
“What if” I cannot return to my ministry?
“What if” a liver cannot be found?

As my imagination multiplies the “what ifs,” anxiety grips my heart. Incredibly, the “what ifs” battleground is seldom wider than my mind.

The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. C.S. Lewis

I am discovering again the power of prayer that can break through the bonds of worry and free me to live the larger, stronger, and quieter life that only flows from intimacy with God.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Familiar passage. Unfamiliar practice. Seldom-experienced blessings.

Be anxious for nothing
Nothing, who are you kidding, God? Have you seen my worry list lately? Sure, I can see why I should not worry about some silly things (these are usually defined as things on someone else’s list.) But God must understand the impact of the big serious stuff of my life.

Perhaps this command is time-related. God must mean when I am at church or trying to witness to an unbeliever. This cannot apply when I am thousands of miles from home and receive bad news from the doctor. He cannot mean in the middle of the night when the “what ifs” attack.

Unfortunately, in my search for spiritual loopholes, I find God is clear. Don’t be anxious about anything, anytime, or anywhere. Oh, great … now I’m worrying about worrying.

God provides the option that works:

Pray about everything. Everything! Including anything that makes me anxious. Big or little. Real or imaginary. Current or future. How do I do this?

Make my requests known to God. This is not about informing God. The prayer focus is on me knowing that God knows. So much of my anxiety comes from me trying to figure out what I should do. Stress will always follow when I try to do what God can do.

I must learn to exchange my worry for worship. One of the ways I have found to make this a reality in my life is by transforming my list of worries into my prayer list. This I must do quickly, consistently, and often. I must not lean on my own limited understanding or try to come up with my own solutions. If I want God’s peace, I must have the Prince of Peace ruling in my mind and heart.

A powerful weapon against worry is found in the phrase “with thanksgiving”. Thanksgiving remembers God’s character and work in my past. It also gives me joy and strength for today and a blessed hope for tomorrow. Every worry and anxiety should be wrapped in a God-focused thanksgiving. This is when I have Holy anticipation of seeing what only God can do.

These are not difficult truths to understand, but require the fullness of God to live. This is not a natural process for me, therefore God in His loving kindness and wisdom has given me many opportunities to learn and apply this type of prayer. The results are supernatural. My anxiety melts into the peace of God at the very moment that seems impossible.

So tonight I will cast all my cares upon Him. I will not fear the “what ifs” because my heart and mind are being guarded in Christ Jesus.

Living in God’s Peace,
Dan

I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:7-8

“Sorry, all I can do is pray”

A number of times, people have shared such words of apology about their prayers for me. I know that such words are said from hearts of concern and love. These people desire to find some way to help that is tangible, practical, and immediate. I appreciate and understand these expressions of grace and kindness.

My fear, however, is that such a limited view of prayer may cause us to settle for less than God’s best. God is grossly underestimated and we fail to receive God’s invitation to be a part of His Holy motion.

Prayer is never meant to be the last and least we can do. Prayer is always the first and best thing we can do. John Bunyan wrote, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

Prayer is not an afterthought or some kind of spiritual, magical formula uttered to awaken God and ensure His granting our every wish. I wonder how often I have insulted the majesty and sovereignty of God by treating Him like my personal genie in a bottle that I only occasionally let out when I want Him to serve me.

I am discovering in my prayers for others what they need is the One who is their answer. My puny human efforts, no matter how well intended, are an extremely poor substitute for the work of God in their lives. I believe there is nothing better I can do for someone than to immediately take their needs to the throne of grace so that they might receive God’s help in their time of need.

I know I am always in great need of the prayers of others. I also know sometimes all of us are more aware of this need than other times.

Attending church in Kentucky, we watched an especially verbal and boisterous child being hurried out, slung under his irate father's arm. No one in the congregation so much as raised an eyebrow -- until the child captured everyone's attention by crying out in a charming Southern accent, "Ya'll pray for me now!" Jean McMahon

God has been teaching me several things about the privilege of praying for others.

First: God’s will is always the answer of every need.

Often we prefer immediate action to divine intervention. We want what we want when we want it. It seems obvious when someone we love is distressed or in pain to pray for instantaneous deliverance. God’s ways are so different from mine that I may actually pray for the removal of the very thing God is using to conform the person to the image of His son. I must begin with the model prayer of Jesus.

"This, then, is how you should pray: `Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'"

As I intercede for others, my mission is not to point out their needs to God, but to focus on their need for God. As I revere and worship Him, I become filled with a faith that knows He can easily meet every need. My simple life-changing request is ‘Father, let your will be done.’ Now I have allowed myself and the one I am praying for a little glimpse of Heaven.

Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God. E. Stanley Jones

I have regularly asked God that if my requests lead to anything less than His best, then cancel my request and do only His will.

Second: The privilege of praying like Jesus.

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21

“…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them”. Hebrews 7:24-25

One of the greatest blessings of this extended time away from home has been the privilege of interceding for others. I pray through our church membership, for my family, friends, and doctors. I especially love to pray for requests that come through our blog site. Each request is like receiving an assignment from God and gives me a feeling of connection and purpose. I treat each request as a precious gift entrusted to my care. I do not get out much these days, so intercessory prayer allows me to break free of physical limitations and join God anywhere in the world.

Third: Prayer allows me to remove the chains of independence and experience the freedom of total dependence on God and the joy of interdependence on other believers.

"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” Matthew 18: 19-20

I wonder what this world would be like if tomorrow we had everything we asked for today?

Intercessory prayer reminds me of how little I can do, and reveals to me that all things are possible with God. When was the last time you were amazed and marveled at our awesome God? Too long? Then take some time through intercessory prayer to hang out in God’s neighborhood. That is where people’s lives are changed and your heart will beat in rhythm with the heart of God. It’s the place where prayers are answered and dreams still come true.

So thank you for praying for me. It is the first and best thing we can do for one another. Together, we will delight in witnessing His divine hands molding our eternal lives.

I am asking God to make the following prayer a reality in my life. Please pray with me. Say, I’m going to the throne room of grace later on – why not e-mail your request and I’ll take it with me?

Strengthened by God and You,
Dan

I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for--but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.
Written by an unknown soldier