I felt led to share this today. It is again from a KLOVE Christian radio daily devotion that I read recently.
It’s easy to be content when things in life are going your way. But how often does that happen? The Bible says that we are to practice being “joyful at any times in everything” (check that out in 1st Thessalonians 5:16), because if you put your life on hold… waiting for what you want to happen, you may be waiting a long time! It’s been said, “Don’t spoil what you have by desiring what you don’t have. Remember that what you now have was the thing that you once hoped for!” Strong!
Three things constantly feed our discontentment. (This, in my mind, is what causes coaches to be so grumpy all the time… so get ready coaches!)
1- Greed. When you dwell on what you don’t have, you’re not enjoying what you already have. You’re not enjoying what God has blessed you with. Be satisfied! Setting goals is great… but stop focusing so hard on the end result. Learn to rejoice while you’re on your way.
I’ll never forget the interview with Walter Payton right after the Bears’ Super Bowl victory. He told the reporter that it had been a great season… NOT because they’d won the Super Bowl (which was great!) but because for the first time in his career he’d enjoyed the journey. Payton had experienced the joy of being there competing each week…. instead of focusing on what had been an elusive goal for him during his illustrious career— getting to the Super Bowl.
2- Fear. It wants you to run from something that’s not chasing you! It’s the enemy’s way of a) robbing you of peace and tranquility; b) tormenting you with the “what if’s”; c) keeping you from trusting God.
It was the “fear of failure” that drove me to succeed in athletics while I played and it tormented me mercilessly when I started coaching. Once I did put my trust in God through the Person of Jesus Christ, all that started to change. What a refreshing, freeing feeling— to get that snarling, biting “animal” of fearing failure off my back! WOW! What a difference it made in my life and my demeanor. I still worked hard to win; but it wasn’t to keep others from thinking less of me (in my eyes!)
3- Seeking Satisfaction in the Wrong Places. The Bible says in the Book of Jeremiah that “My people have forsaken the living water, and dug up broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” It’s said that we spend our first 50 years searching for security, and the rest of our lives looking for significance. But we don’t have to!
The hymn writer wrote, “Now none but Christ can satisfy; no other Name for me. There’s love, life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in Thee!”
Are you searching for contentment? Try Jesus!
