Contentment
The blogs I’ve written the last few months have followed the theme of virtues. I didn’t really do it on purpose, but it’s been nice that it worked out that way.
In May I wrote on Humility. In June and July I talked on Faith. And now I am on Contentment. All of this is a result of what God has been doing in my heart. It’s interesting that it worked out to follow the theme of different moral qualities.
Each blog has reflected the work God was doing in my heart that month, and this blog is certainly fresh from my life.
I reading through Psalm 23 a few days ago, and I had just gotten through verse one when I thought: “Now, hmmm. Does this verse mean…
a) Since God is my shepherd, I won’t have needs that go unfilled.
Or…
b) Since God is my shepherd, I better not be covetous.
I’ve heard the first interpretation taught more than the second, but I didn’t think more on what it meant until a few days later…
I was getting ready for bed, standing next to my dresser, when I was struck with an urgent thought—the kind of urgent thought you have when, two minutes after leaving Wal-mart, you realize your youngest child is not buckled in his car seat (I’m not saying anything else about that.)—and you feel like, I better act on this RIGHT NOW.
Well, the thought was, “I’m supposed to be meditating day and night on God’s Word. I don’t have a verse in my head. Quick! Quick! Think of a verse!”
With relief, Psalm 23:1 came to mind: “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.”
I repeated this verse to myself a few times as the words “I shall not want” began to paint a picture in my mind of a someone who never wants things she doesn’t have. I began to think of the implications of what it might mean to say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” in the context of “I better not be covetous.”
I already know God says not to covet. It’s the tenth commandment of the Ten Commandments. I first heard “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” by Ray Comfort back when it was still on cassette tape, over 15 years ago. If you haven’t heard this message, you should. (If it seems the first two sentences are totally unrelated to the second two sentences, the context is that Ray Comfort places a huge emphasis on the Ten Commandments—which I now know backwards and forwards, with much credit to his ministry.)
Anyway, I continued to think of the kind of woman who can say, “I shall not want.” She wouldn’t obsess over not owning a house or having a large backyard. After all, someone who says, “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want” is someone who is content.
Greed. That was my next thought. Greed is the opposite of saying, “I shall not want.” Lack of contentment is greed.
The next day as I was telling my friend Nicole about my fascination with Psalm 23:1, another verse along the same lines came into my head: Hebrews 13:5.
I used to have this verse on the wall in my bedroom before I was married. If you’ve heard me speak in person or read much of what I’ve written, you probably know that I’m big on wall messages. I put random verses or phrases up on my walls, doors, cupboards, wherever, so I don’t forget things that I feel are super important. But I do try to keep it under control.
Back before I was married, it was not “under control.” Other than places on the ceiling, about every square inch of my bedroom walls were covered with verses I’d written on 8½ x 11 inch paper or 3 x 5 cards. And back when I was single, I had far more time to lie in bed and read each and every verse.
If I can remember correctly, Hebrews 13:5 was on my closet door. I guess next to clothes is a good place for a girl to put a verse about contentment. And here’s what Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
Have you seen the correlation? God is my shepherd. He takes care of me. And he will never leave me or forsake me. Therefore, I shall not want. I shall not covet.
If God is my Shepherd, if I trust that He is leading me to the pastures he wants me in, then I won’t feel sorry for myself for what I don’t have.
I will not want. I will keep my life free from the love of money. I will be content with such things as I have.
And this is a message not just for July and August, but for all our lives. Many people spend their entire lives seeking to be rich. Some of them probably even think that if they we’re richer, they would be content with that. God tells us to be content now, with exactly what we have. And the reason? Because He is our Shepherd. And that is why we can say with David, “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.”
***Breaking News… I have a trivia question for you. What is the last thing you want to spill in your kitchen? Let me add some more details to this trivia question. It is something you spill:
- In the middle of summer
- In the middle of summer IN TEXAS—which could be called, “The land of the insects,” especially in summer.
- Something that tips over on your kitchen counter, runs down your drawers so that it covers the top of each draw and goes partially inside, and then lands on the floor?
If you guessed watered-down honey, then you are CORRECT. (I’m making the game show “Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.” sound in my head right now.)
Which is what happened to me right after I finished typing the last line on the subject of contentment. :)
I got up to make another cup of tea after I finished typing. This was my second cup of tea today. I was in between honey bottles, so I put some water in the last honey bottle so I’d be sure to get all of it. Yes, I’m extremely frugal.
As I went to pick up the honey bottle, I hit it over instead and it splashed over my counter, down my drawers, and onto the fridge and floor. So now you know, I’m not only frugal, but I’m also a klutz.
Love, Katie
