the secret of being content

I’ve been having a conversation with the Creator of the universe for what seems like an eternity. It pretty much sounds like this:

“Can I please have this?”

“No.”

“But I really want it.”

“No.”

“But I really, really want it.”

“No.”

Have I gotten the message? Oh, I regularly quote Jesus and say “Not as I will, but as you will."1

But inside I feel like a kid who’s been shafted by Santa on Christmas morning. I bounce from one emotion to another. Anger, heartache and disappointment can’t wait for their turn to come around.

At the end of the day, when everything’s said and done, it all comes down to whether God really knows what’s best for His children. The answer, of course, is “Yes, He does.”

Jesus put it like this: “Your Father knows what you need.”2

And yet I still want what I want and insist on enlightening my heavenly Father (repeatedly) on what’s best for me. As if He needs my advice.

How immature is that? I apparently need to learn what the Apostle Paul learned:

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”3

Do you see what I see? The “secret of being content” is to rely on the Lord who gives us the “strength” to live on whatever He’s provided for us. That is, if we have the right attitude, and if we allow Him, the Lord will give us the “strength”—the ability—to do just fine, regardless of our circumstances.

If that’s a correct interpretation, I’m disappointed. That’s because even though I now know the “secret,” it hasn’t done me any good: I still want what I want.

What a baby. I apparently still have some learning to do.

What about you? Have you been having a similar conversation with the Creator of the universe? Are you, like me, imposing your wants on your heavenly Father even though He knows what you need?

If so, let’s give this thing a shot and be more teachable. Let’s learn to be content. After all, we know the secret.

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

1 Matthew 26:39
2 Matthew 6:8
3 Phil 4:12-13