I’ve always struggled with settling.
But I believe God is teaching me that being content doesn’t mean settling.
God is the God of more.
He takes us from glory to glory and tells us Jesus came to give us an abundant life.He says he wants to prosper us and provide for us according to all the riches in Christ Jesus.
Not just in our finances, although his word makes it clear that he desires that for us, but in every area of life he wants us to be rich.
In relationship, creativity, passion, love, kindness, goodness, peace and joy – all of the fullness of who he is, he wants to bestow on us.
And yet, we settle.
We think that good enough is good. That mediocre will suffice. There couldn’t possibly more, could there? Isn’t that what it means to be content?
I don’t think so.
In the Bible, Paul tells us he learned to be content in all circumstances. He wrote that from a prison cell after being beaten. But he had also been rich in his day as well. He said he knew both and could settle into each one with contentment knowing that in each situation, God had more.
As I consider the meaning of contentment, I think of God creating the world and saying “it is good” at the end of each day even when he wasn’t finished yet. He was still building something, but was able to lay it down each day with a sense of rest and peace knowing more was to come.
Can I do that? I believe that describes contentment.
Lord help me to live in a place of contentment today. And each day.
Laura Bennet - Author 