elusive contentment

{found via pinterest}

we are supposed to be content with what we have. we are supposed to be content whatever our lot is in life. we are supposed to do a lot of things. and honestly? i come up short in the vast majority of the "supposed to"s. i also know that we're kind of supposed to come up short because we can't do it on our own. we are broken people. we are born broken. [if i ever doubted this before, i look at my 21 month old, and no longer doubt...]

and to top off the fact that we try to do it all on our own and get frustrated when we cannot, and only when we're completely unraveled do we come back to God and ask him to fix it, to fix us, to weave our unraveled mess back together; to top it all off, we live in a culture that could easily define itself as the antithesis of contentment.

have you noticed that they started selling bathing suits in what? march? that back to school supplies make their way onto the shelves of stores on july 5th? that fall clothes will pop up as soon as august hits [if not before]? that back-to-school gives way to halloween shortly thereafter, and then christmas decorations come out even before the halloween paraphernalia makes its exit? magazines send out the issue for the next month when you've hardly entered the one before.

we are constantly pushed toward what's next. we are constantly encouraged to move on to the next thing. to strive for more, and to strive for what's coming instead of taking the time to enjoy the thing we strived for moments earlier.

we live inside the antithesis of contentment.

and yet we are called to be content whatever our circumstances. we love and serve a God who says "my timing is perfect" and that timing doesn't always match up with our own. we love and serve a God who sometimes calms the storm, and sometimes calms the child while the storm rages on. it is hard to stay content when we want something counter to the plan God has for us. but he calls the shots because he is actually in control. we are not.

and in my limited experience things tend to go a little bit better if we go with his plan instead of trying to come up with a better one ourselves.

contentment is a struggle, yes. contentment eludes us. but God does not elude us.

too often we feel we have to figure it all out, and then go to God. i often feel lost and wonder - where does God want me to be?

a wise woman once told me: "God wants you at the center of his will more than you want to be there."

God is not all about tricking us. he wants us to follow him even more than we want to follow him. he wants what is best for us even more than we want what is best for ourselves.

so breathe, and be content with that.
God wants you at the center of his will more than you want to be there.

xo,

katie