Philippians 4 (The Message Bible)
Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quiet content whatever my circumstances. I'm just happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the ONE who makes me who I am.
Stopping for a moment to ruminate on life.
Not looking for answers, or pontificating on the meaning of our existence. I'll leave that to minds that are more intelligent that my noodle.
Just looking back over my journey of years.
Wishing I could do somethings different, but fully realizing that had I been able to, it would have probably changed who I am today. So, I don't think I am going to paddle down that creek.
Very grateful for people I've met along the way....
Got a call from one of them today. He got a bad report after having an exam by his family doctor. Lung cancer. Seems as though the cancer didn't originate in the lungs, but has spread at this time. As he told me the news, his voice was lite and filled with hope. He didn't like hearing that his body had been invaded but, at the same time, he wasn't going to pack up and move to the land of depression and gloom. His take was that he would face it one day at a time. Celebrate the good days...and hang on to make it through the bad. I want to be like my friend. Have a total understanding that life happens on this side of heaven. Good people get cancer. Bad people seem to skate through every bad thing that happens. Good people get their drivers license and go to the store for their mother. Bad people get drunk and hit said good person head on killing them. Bad people go away without a scratch. I want what Paul wrote about in the Philippians passage. The ability to rest in Jesus, and by doing so find a heavenly contentment that doesn't make sense to an earthly mind.
A contentment that has a foundation that cannot be shaken by earthly situations or circumstances. One that allows our steps to be sure and steady even though the path we're on seems to be experiencing mega-quakes bent on unsettling us, and knocking us off our journey with Jesus. I want that kind of contentment.
Sometimes, I wish God had written or spoke out about having a spiritual "Backbone".
I'm not so sure such backbone isn't a part of the giftings of the Holy Spirit. A kind of grit and mindset (not to mention heart set) that speaks to us saying, "Dig your heels in and stand firm in the strength of the Lord....this thing your facing won't last forever." All part of being content. Oh yeah....by the way, contentment doesn't mean you are happy or joyful about your current state of life....it just means that your o.k., knowing that it is a temporary thing you are facing. Face, everything is temporary when it comes to following an eternal God. Hmmmm. Maybe that is part of what contentment is all about.
God on you....
mbb
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