Being Content - In death

I cannot say that I am content in death.... Yes, I know it's better and a better place and it's gonna be wonderful with Christ, but as I have lost my father and other loved ones, I know the sting of death as well. I have seen others suffer with that sting, that loss, that hurt, and void. The questions with no answers. Is it possible to be be content in death?? Maybe.... I have heard those that speak of being content, those that suffer with cancer or other incorrigible disease and how they are so ready for death and they welcome it with open arms.. as it is relief to them. Look at Job in the Bible he begged to die. Paul was ready to die...

“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 5:8 NLT

Every soul longs to be with our Lord. We were created for him, so our soul longs for Him, that is why we struggle some with loneliness and voids if we do not know him and are not in fellowship with Him. 

I remember this song that said "Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die" now that has a couple of different meanings, but really no one wants to die literally but also no one wants to die to self and accept God as Lord over our lives.

Somehow it's hard to leave this world, it's hard to separate ourselves from this world and that is the whole answer to being content. The answer to being content..... is finding that wonderful balance of it all.

I have talked with a couple of women who are at risk of loosing their child and women that have lost a child and most struggle with it, but I have to say my niece told me once and it touched me to the core. Her daughter has a heart condition and really it's only by the grace of God she is alive each day. She was going for a test and I asked her how she felt about it, and she said" I know she is God's, she belongs to Him and I am only getting her for a little while...." I was like wow... such wisdom from such pain.  I know if something happened to her the mourning and pain would be hard, but such wisdom and comfort she has gotten for putting God in her life and in her beliefs and coping.

That is the bottom line...He, our heavenly Father promised a comforter would come, and has come when He went away in physical body, he sent that comforter for us. He is a living God and that heavenly spirit is the factor that helps us to be content in death.

I have been reminded recently of the pain of death and spoke with a very special person who has lost someone so dear. I was humbled by God's grace in it all. God is such a good God.

For to me to live is Christ but to die is gain. Phil 1:21...   v23..My desire is to depart for that is far better.

Being Content on this Roller Coaster Called Life

That roller coaster of life. ..... yep ....so many ups and downs.

Being in the ministry, we get to see a lot of those ups and downs in peoples lives. Just being here in Florida for 2 years, I think of the things people have told us, the hurt we have seen and the joy. Such a roller coaster of sorts. I read an article once that most pastors have to be on some type of antidepressant medication because of the stress, and information that they are entrusted to from people.  The standards that are expected and I could go on and on, but it's a ....

A Roller Coaster.

 People come, people go. We love people and we love on people and share ourselves and just like any loss when they leave,  it hurts....Just as we have come and went out of peoples lives that we love and that love us.  I never thought I would live 8 hours away from my own mom. It has been a Roller Coaster for sure !

Again, as I said before, being content is not a state of current circumstance, it is a status of being whole through all of the ups and downs. It's knowing through everything that God is in control. He is bigger than all of this down here and putting him first will get you through many of the curves life throws at you.

I share Paul's quote again.

"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." (Phil 4:11-13, Holy Bible)

So I am learning to be content in whatever situation, people come people go, loss, heart ache, happy times, joy, sadness, hurt, and God is growing me through this roller coaster called life.....

Most days though the ride is pretty awesome !! 

Being Content with Your Lot in Life

Can a poor person without anything be completely content. I have to attest to that and say yes. I see it often in the homeless on the streets. I have seen it many times, money, and materials do not constitute  well being. Your lot in life or your present circumstances do have to define who you are. 

It is what is within you that defines who you are. 

Often when we think of contentment, we think about money and having things. Things that are materials that make life better, easier, more enjoyable.  Plenty of food, good healthy food, we think of clothes, cars, a home etc.. I could go on and on, but contentment does not and should not revolve around your circumstances but should reside within your character.  

 I figured this out along the way of life. We work or don't work, we live, we love, we share ourselves our walk, our faith and hope with others and that alone should be enough right? Well look around it isn't. 

“ I maintain that both poverty and wealth are inhibiting. People living in poverty 

 are scared, you scare money away, you scare values away and you scare blessings 

 away. Now some wealthy people also freeze. they too are scared. They are scared of losing what they have. They hold on to all of it and therefore blessings stop coming to them”
 Norman Vincent Peale.  

Peale goes on to pen that the key to contentment is having a giving heart, and being willing to give it all away. The “it” is not only money but ourselves, and our time for God. The way to get to that freedom is complete submission to the Lord, our God. Submission leads to freedom.

"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." (Phil 4:11-13, Holy Bible) 

I have lived in want, and need, I have lived in plenty, and I am still learning how to be content, but isn't God the wonderful potter.

Contentment is often put in the category of having or not having and often it’s associated with money, just as I have associated with money, but it is so much more than just having financial freedom. It is submitting to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is daily seeking him and walking in fellowship with him to obtain just a piece of what Paul had. It is a state of mind and product of character. It is a virtue to strive for, and a habit that can be obtained through submission to God. A product of that submission, will be a thankful heart. That gratuitous heart of humility will seek Him and find Him along with peace and freedom like no other. That my friend, will be contentment at it’s best.

This is part 1 .... be on the look out for part 2.... "Being content on this roller coaster called life."