Contentment…No Matter What Part3: Crisis(Forever!)
The past 2 weeks we have been addressing issues in our lives that keep us from living a life of contentment. We addressed at comparison and circumstances. Read those first then come back to issue 3: crisis.
Have you ever been in a hard season and said….THIS WILL GO ON FOREVER!! I have more than once. One season began when our twins were in middle school and lasted until they were in their early 30s. For 8 of those years, one daughter did life on her own, apart from our family. Most of that time we weren’t even sure if she was alive. She struggled through many life issues I’ve blogged on in other posts.
And YES, if felt like forever!!! What got me and my husband through? Believing that God was sovereign and loved her more than we did. We knew He still had a plan and purpose for us and for her. We continued daily to trust He knew where she was, praying God would place people in her life who would help her turn to Him and to us.
YES…God did restore her to Him and to us eventually, but I didn’t know if He would. I’ve shared before that about 7 years and 11 and a half months into that 8 year season, I spoke at a conference in California and said something I’d never said out loud to a group of women before. I said, “If I never see her this side of heaven, would I still tell you that God is good, faithful, true? That He is worth it?” My answer to my own question was a verbal YES to those women. And I meant it but, two weeks later, God’s restoration process with our family began.
But I am convinced that if His plan had not included bringing her back, I would still say the same thing today because I believe eternity is longer than my life on this earth! But as long as I had breath, I believe I’d still be praying for her return and trusting God with her life.
In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul tells us, “Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day for our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
If anyone had reason to express discontentment in his crises, it was Paul. We see proof of that in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, “Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews.Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.”
Looks hopeless, doesn’t it? How did Paul find contentment…no matter what? How do we? Is it possible? Read the final post in this 4 part series next week for some final thoughts and practical steps to help us grow spiritually content, no matter what life experience we face.
Post Photo by Joanna Nix on Unsplash
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