In life, there are those moments that define us. Moments that make us who we are or change our course...take us in a different direction. I've been thinking a lot about those kinds of moments lately and I've come to realize that many of them come as a result of a season of trial, doubt, sadness or discontent.
I think most of us go through life wanting to be "happy". We seek happiness. We try to create happiness for ourselves and those we love but what I've learned is happiness is situational. There are events, people, places, things that can make us happy for brief moments but those moments are fleeting. What happens between the "happies". That, my friends is called contentment. How do find contentment, you ask? We find it in the one who brings us peace. The one who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The source of our joy even in tough times. Contentment is found in Jesus and being firmly planted in the center of His Will for our lives.
I've always heard that we make our own happiness but the facts are we aren't going to be HAPPY every minute of every day because happiness is an emotion brought on by our situation. CONTENTMENT is a state of being. Even in our unhappy moments there is joy and contentment in Jesus but we have to be willing to embrace it. Often times we runaway from contentment in pursuit of happiness. When will we realize that there is no lasting happiness without contentment. It's weird because we often associate content with complacent. Why do we do that? You can be completely content without becoming complacent. Content doesn't mean the absence of pursuit, drive and purpose. I think those things become MORE present when we find our contentment in Christ.
Many times in our walk with Christ we are asked, nudged, required to do things that aren't comfortable. We're asked to step outside of our norm and be brave. Many times, I've resisted...I mean SOOOOOO many times!! When we resist we delay what God has for us or we delay what God has for someone else for which we are the conduit.
Sunday the preacher used a quote from JFK's speech about landing on the moon.
"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too."
Sometimes,Christ wants us to stick with the hard thing simply because it’s hard. It’s like a refiner’s fire. We go through the hard time (fire) so that He can remove all those things that keep us from walking fully in abundant life. The refiner’s fire strips away all the ick which brings forth purity in spirit. It molds us and makes us more in His image and likeness. That refinement is not fun but it’s necessary and we all experiences it at various times throughout life. If we let it, the refinement will draw us closer to Christ and build our faith but we have to willing…even if it’s painful and uncomfortable to see it through and glean from the lessons God has for us. The Refiner’s fire is used to test our endurance of faith. We come out on the other side more radiant and grounded in our faith. We can look back and see all the places where the Father sustained us, gave us mercy, grace and peace. It’s difficult to discern it in the midst of the test but once we’ve come through…WOW!! Christ will ask us to do and be that which is not easy and He asks us to do and be these things BECAUSE they're hard...because doing and being that which He asks is for a greater good, to accomplish His will in our lives and through our lives to touch others. He will make us uncomfortable so that we have nothing else to rely but HIM!
We MUST learn to be content wherever we land! Happiness comes and goes but if we are looking for something to make us happy all the time…we'll spend our entire lives chasing something that isn’t attainable. No one is happy all the time because not all situations are happy. I mean, ya'll ... do you think Jesus wanted to die on the cross? No, He absolutely DID NOT want to go to the cross!! He knew that it was a horrible death. He knew that His Father wouldn't be able to look at Him...that he'd be forsaken, if only for that moment. He even asked if the cup could pass from Him but the answer was no. He had to go. There was a greater good that resulted in His temporary albeit excruciating suffering. Until we commit to Christ completely (even when the times/tasks are hard) we'll continue to chase happiness and contentment will allude us.
What will be THE defining moment in your life?
Psalm 66:10-12
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