Anyone else feel like they’re on a roller-coaster of emotions? This ride we’re on has us locked in and yet we still feel unprotected. And like my (then twelve-year-old) daughter who screamed with red face and dripping tears until the roller-coaster she was on was shut down – I too feel like screaming, “STOP! GET ME OFF! I WANT OFF, NOW!”
We’re happy – we’re sad – we’re lonely – we’re hungry – we’re joyful – we’re in despair … get me off this ride! If this quarantine has taught me anything, it’s this: we cannot allow our circumstances to govern our contentment.
If I make more money – If my kids obey – If my spouse changes – If my health gets better – If we can get back to normal . . . then, I will be at peace – content and happy. Friend, are you resting your contentment on the spinning plate of circumstance?
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4
Our key to contentment is found in those last words – through him.
Contentment is a person who is not governed by circumstance.The good news is that, through Jesus, there is no circumstantial contentment. Paul experienced both abundance and lack, he experienced both welcoming and rejecting – and yet, Contentment was his guide. God’s love is not contingent on our circumstances, we can be confident that we can never disappoint Him. When I am disappointed (in myself, others or circumstance) it’s because I had an expectation that went unmet.
Jesus holds no expectations only invitations.
Because He lives in us – we can live through Him with the same love that has no expectations and no circumstantial contentment.
Contentment is experienced through Jesus by letting go of our expectations. Friend, letting go of expectations is hard. We hold a solid grip on what we expect. We expect our kids to live and behave a certain way – We expect a paycheck for our labor – We expect justice – We expect people to uphold our beliefs – We expect people to love us, forgive us, and value us … what we expect can gain complete control over our contentment.
What if, like Jesus, we lived without expectations? Folks, I’m trying to sink my roots deeply into this. I want to harbor NO HARD FEELINGS toward others, toward our government and toward this season. And that means, I must let go of expectations and love the way Jesus loves me – without expectations that lead to disappointments. It’s in the disappointments we are seated on the roller-coaster.
We cannot disappoint God – knowing this brings Him closer to us. As we become more aware of His love, we’re more able to extend that love to another. We’re more able to LIVE that love in the season at hand – the same love that knows no expectation, simply meets us where we are but changes and softens our heart. This is “through him” … through Him we experience contentment – because He is Contentment.
With love,
