Contentment

My life is really a bummer from the world's perspective, but from God's perspective it is beautiful. Many Christians don't even see it. But the Lord has given me a great ministry and a glorious inheritance! All praise be unto to Him! I'm actually content, though I struggle in a couple of major areas. The contentment, I think, comes partly from the fact that the Lord has shown me His purpose for my being in the situation I'm in. Yesterday I looked up the Biblical meanings for "contentment" and "content." The meaning in the New Testament is pretty much the same as in our modern English. The Old Testament meaning carries the idea of bringing beauty out of difficulty. The New Testament and English meanings are passive, being satisfied and accepting. By contrast the Old Testament meaning is active, involving us in bringing beauty into or out of a bad situation. I like this. It is what the Lord has led me to do. I have seen how this has affected others. I still share my struggles with a few people for prayer support, making it clear that I want prayer, not sympathy. But a poignant example of a big change is that I used to share the bad things alot with my family, and that was hard on them. Now I don't. And one of my brothers sometimes shares his and his wife's struggles with me. I was with them last month. The subject of my challenges never came up. It's as if they assume everything is ok since I'm not talking about any problems. They seemed more relaxed with me. And I like that. In a sense, everything IS ok. It's like the older man who was asked how he was. He replied, "I'm doing very well. This tent I'm living in is becoming dilapidated, and may soon need to be replaced, but I myself am doing very well." Amen. Everything is ok between God and me. And that's what matters.