Sorting Out Contentment

Have you ever been waiting on news with baited breath and tried to keep your mind busy so that you wouldn’t go crazy? I tend to get busy cleaning and organizing, because regardless of the news, good or bad, at the end of the day, I’ve been successful at something. Recently, I was praying and waiting on news of the result of my prayers, so I decided to clean out and organize closets. It was one of those days, when I needed to make some progress and gain ground in some way, since my busy-ness in other areas had cause me to lose ground on necessary tasks around the house. 

Speaking of gaining, there’s a verse that is sitting on a shelf in my hallway that reminds me over and over again the importance of contentment.  

But godliness with contentment is great gain. I Tim. 6 :6 NIV

 

As I sat and sorted through a very large bag of buttons I dragged out of a closet I cleaned out, I thought about a conversation I had with a sister in Christ about this verse. I wouldn’t say that I was worrying about the possibility of bad news, but I also knew that the possibility existed, that, at the end of the day, what I and a number of people were praying for might not come to pass. We may be disappointed, once again. Could I rest in contentment and seek a godly point of view either way?

I grouped similar buttons together, took out broken ones and rocks or other things that were not buttons. My teenage daughter and a friend of hers were helping and we chatted about life at times, and sat in silence, other times. But, the whole time, I was sending up prayers that were geared toward one specific answer. Please Lord, grant my request. This is the way that you’d be glorified through all this. End the turmoil and pain now. Could I envision a scenario where God was glorified by not answering my prayer the way I wanted it answered? No, honestly, I can say that I did not.

It is difficult, sometimes, to trust in a God that is silent… that doesn’t appear to be working… and know that even still, He IS GOD. And God IS LOVE. He is our strong and mighty tower. He hears our cries of despair. He knows when we hurt. He catches every tear in His strong hand.

At the end of the day, when the news came back that God had not answered my many prayers all day (and the days previous) in the way I wanted, I had to make a choice. Do I lash out in anger and turn my back on Him? Or, do I bow my head in humble praise and thanksgiving that He is still working… that He will not give up, and that His ways are perfect?

After about an hour of crying, I heard the Lord’s tender voice calling to me. I said, after wiping the tears from my eyes, and sliding the buttons into their bags, “Lord, it’s in Your hands. I trust You.”

In the midst of my brokenness, as I acknowledged Him, He removed the doubt and disappointment and replaced it with trust and contentment. This is not something that is a finished work. I know He’s going to have to do it again and again. But, for now, as I put away the sorted buttons, He has sorted out what needed to be done in me for now and He’ll never give up. I trust Him to continue working until I’m complete in Him.

 

 

What is the "great gain" that Paul tells Timothy about? I think of it as in running a race, as Paul so aptly represents the Christian life (see I Corinthians 9). When you are gaining in a race, you're making good progress, coming closer to the finished line. Well, that is certainly something I want to do! I want to run so as to win the prize! I'm so thankful that this sorting out work in my character is not something I have to do. He's doing it in me.