Contentment....

I'm always amazed at how God will place a word, phrase, or scripture on your heart in various seasons in your life that will be specific to that season. A few years ago, I was terribly heartbroken. I felt my heart was being ripped from my chest and couldn't understand why things were not going as I thought they should and why I had to endure this heartache. A phrase from scripture rolled over and over in my head, "the secret things belong to the Lord our God"....this was such a comfort to me during this time and even now, with mass chaos and confusion in our world, I catch myself reciting this phrase from God's Word. Other words or phrases have played over in my mind. For instance, "peace" and "legacy", but over the past few months, the word that occupies my thoughts and causes much pondering is "contentment". Several years ago, I went through a long season of discontentment and because of that I can't begin to tell you how welcome contentment is. It's like a cool drink of water on a hot and humid day. Am I saying that I'm always a peace-filled, fun-loving person who rarely has a bad day? Not at all! Contentment takes effort, much prayer, and meditation on scripture. I find that with thankfulness and praise, contentment is a close companion. Contentment is an act of surrender to the One who knew me before I was born, who numbered the hairs on my head, and who named the stars. Contentment is saying to my Maker, "You are the great 'I AM' and I will! Contentment is knowing that regardless of my surroundings, God sees the big picture and hears my prayers and knows what is best!