It was around 7:00 in the morning when I went for a walk around our property in TN. The sun was breaking off the morning low fog and birds were singing in the new day. A few deer decided to try out Rip’s salt block that he’d put down at the barbed wire fence for them, while squirrels, big huge red tailed white nosed squirrels were awfully excited for a new day, they decided to play chase! It was one of “those” mornings when so much life and activity launched me into a fresh new day. And as I turned the corner around a clump of hardwood trees, and caught a glimpse of our house sitting on a hill, I had this realization:

“I’m thankful. I’m content. I’m happy. I’m honored that God, You have allowed me to take care of all these trees, all these grass, all these shrubs and flowers and wild life. You’ve honored me by giving me responsibility to care for our home, the needs of it, the management of it, and to care for all the lives within.”

I was so overwhelmed by His goodness that I told Him, “I’m content.”

During this time, we had several children living in the far country. There were issues and troubles that we had in our lives that were hard … heavy. But in that moment, as I walked with my Father among all that He created – the morning, the sun, the blades of grass, the morning dew, the animals, the trees, … He opened my eyes to see the blessings from Him that was poured into our lives.

To be content, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary means this:

“Internal satisfaction which does not demand changes in external circumstances.”

Let’s see how Scripture supports this. Look up these verses and in your journal write out (summarize) what each one is teaching you.

Hebrews 13:5

1 Timothy 6:6-10

Matthew 6:34

Luke 12:19

Philippians 4:11-13

John 14:8-9

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

2 Corinthians 9:8-11

What area in your life is already being spotlighted by the Holy Spirit as an area of discontent? Write it out. Or maybe you are seeing several areas in your life where”pricing God’s peace” is not considered, but instead the possession or the problem is consuming your thoughts. Consuming your money. Consuming your desires.

In your journal, write what you’re thinking right now. Are you a compulsive spender? Do you have quite a dependency on shopping? Do you compare your home, your vehicles, your clothes, your possessions with others? Are you frustrated because of what you are doing for a living? Are you not content with your looks, your weight, your hair…I mean, really y’all. It’s real. It’s one thing to be ambitious, to take care of yourself, and to want to provide well for your family and give well to those in need. But it’s quite another thing to be so discontented that an idol of WANT and an idol of DESIRE takes hold of your life and peace is gone – and a growing doubt that God will provide surfaces in your beliefs. Growing spiritually is halted when we harbor the attitude of being discontent. Discontentment is real and it can snowball into something wrong…totally against God.

Tuesday I will post the video lesson on what it is that God says, “This can not be if you want a contented heart.”  But before that lesson, here is what I’d like to ask us to do – read those verses. Study them. Look them up in commentaries and see what scholars have to say. Memorize one or two and write them on your index cards. And then, write in your journal the obvious, and I do mean glaringly obvious, areas of your life where you know you just aren’t content and areas where subtle discontentment is trying to make it’s way into your heart.

I’m praying for you…this is HUGE! Huge in the eyes of the Lord and during our lesson on Tuesday, we will see just how it is such a vital part of our life as a Christian that God stresses living in tee-total contentment. And please know…I am walking through this time of learning and leveraging such solid habits with you! It’s such a joy of mine to love and encourage you and I can’t think of anything more exciting than to share in studying God’s Word with you!

**For our bible study lessons, I will use the same image as the blog post image. This will help us stay better organized.