Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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Has Easter Dawned?
The miracle of creation’s first light emerges every morning in a blend of beauty and mystery. The lifting mists slowly unveil the day’s reality. So it was on Resurrection morning for Jesus’ disciples. Comprehension of the enigma and meaning of the man who had died nailed to a Roman cross between two scoundrels slowly began to emerge as his followers pondered an empty tomb at dawn’s light.
Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection climaxed three exhausting years of trudging around Israel while teaching profound truths and performing endless miracles which demonstrated his power over nature, the spirit world, disease, and human brokenness. Yet, he had been judged and rejected by many because of his place of origin, heritage, lack of formal religious education, his socioeconomic status, his friends and associates, his countercultural beliefs, and the assumed threat he was to the religious rulers. Nevertheless, he had lived resolutely with divine love and purpose. No fault could be found in him despite having been tried and opposed by his own humanity, by Israel’s political-religious hierarchy, and by dark forces using all manner of evil against him –temptations, racism, bias, intolerance, misunderstanding, unbelief, treason, and jealousy over his power with the masses.
His inevitable crucifixion seemed a joyful victory for the opposition but a disastrous blow to his followers. Even so, he was not defeated. His true identity and purposes continued to unfold. Resurrection’s enlightening was just hours away from the darkness enshrouding his death. Those dark hours before resurrection day’s dawn were disorienting. His followers had been severely traumatized by the unjustifiable mockery, brutalization, humiliation, and murder of their dear friend, beloved leader, and mentor, the one they had confidently believed would be the salvation of Israel. His death dashed their personal dreams, their hopes for Israel, and put them in jeopardy. Imagine their shock, deep sadness, and despair! Fear, anger, anxiety, guilt and shame swirled through their conversations while that horrific drama played over and over in their heads. They mourned their friend. There was no way forward. There was no replacement for Jesus. No one had his power and vision. There would be no recovery. Their world was foreboding, pointless…
As they huddled together in fear and disbelief, their grieving minds were too fogged to remember or understand or perhaps even believe what Jesus had told them when he said “…you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. …” (John 16:19-24)
On Resurrection morning, bewilderment cautiously gave way with the angelic assurance that Jesus had risen “as he said he would.” Then they actually saw Jesus! Some at once. Some later. Joy kicked in. He was alive! They were getting some clarity. The amazing implications of Christ’s emergence from death’s cold, dark grip unveiled astonishing realities. The mist was indeed lifting! Death had been defeated! God’s Kingdom was not temporal but eternal! Humanity had hope! What a reversal a few hours made! Resurrection morning had come! He had risen from the dead! Truth was fully revealed.
Is Easter just a story? Has Easter dawned for us? Has it impacted us?
As an atheist, C. S. Lewis experienced what he called “willful blindness.” He had made no robust attempt to discover the truth about Christ. Often, this callous disregard or conscious avoidance of Christ occurs because Christianity is misunderstood. Christianity is all about God’s justice and Christ’s love and is not about people, institutions, or restrictions. Christ paid the price for our sins and offers to free us from the condemnation that we deserve because of our sinful natures. There is only one condition for that freedom! Belief. (Acts 16:31) (Romans 10:9-10)
Easter makes a mindboggling statement. It confirms the Gospel. Christ’s redemptive act at the cross is truly the necessary, gracious, merciful, remedy for mankind’s sinful nature, and his trumphant ressurection verifies his divinity and the eternal existence of man’s soul. Trusting Christ is not only God’s plan for spiritual renewal and purpose during this earthly journey but is our assurance that we will live with Him even when we die.
Could there be any more perfect or more hope-filled plan for when we exchange mortality for immortality?
A Safe Place
“Quietly Waiting for Spring“
When weariness or overwhelming urgencies chip away at joy, we need a “go to” plan, somewhere to pause the struggle, a temporary escape from busyness, stress, turbulent times, difficult relationships, or family chaos. Retreating to a good book, resting in a favorite chair, listening to special music, or just a finding a quiet space may help ease one’s mind and inner turmoil.
My “place” is a childhood memory of summer evenings when my four siblings were in bed drowsing off to sleep after an exhausting day of fun and play. While the house was quiet, I would sit by my small, open bedroom window listening to the the sounds of a waning summer day: leaves rustling in the silver oak tree as a light breeze whispered by, a hermit thrush’s sweet song interspersed with the twilight call of a whip-o-will in the pine grove, and a Bob-o-link bob-o-linking in the field between the house and the grove. The world was calm and ordered. I was at peace. Responsibility and worries were my parents’ problems and rarely touched me then. In those moments, a beautiful awareness of belonging stirred within me. Those remembrances of innocent moments still calm me to sleep many years later.
Some of us are plagued by stress filled or traumatizing experiences and have difficulty finding cherished moments to rest our minds, bodies, and souls. Moving beyond loss, abuse, victimization, anger, guilt, and shame takes time and hard soul searching work. The proper place for negative memories and hurts is where they no longer have control over emotions and behaviors. Sorting them out may require professional help, but scripture encourages us to look to the love and strength of Jesus, who invites us, “Come to me… learn from me…and you will find rest for your souls…” (Matt 11:28-29).
That is a credible offer. In spite of his stress filled life, Jesus humbly, willingly, and without complaint embraced loss, poverty, grief, temptation, hardship, betrayal, and injustice as he showed us how to live by the power and grace of God. The author of Hebrews exhorted his readers to “Consider (Jesus) who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted (Hebrews 12:2-3).” His unmitigated love for his Father and for humanity enabled him to overcome, persevere, and fulfill his redemptive work at the cross as the only blameless sacrifice and perfect payment for our sins.
One Old Testament name for God was Deliverer. The Psalmist sang, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:2). Jesus carried that divine role into New Testament times. He declared, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). He changed the lives of the troubled and diseased, the disenfranchised, sinners, and even the dead. His ultimate show of power was a glorious resurrection by which he guaranteed eternal hope for those who would accept his redemptive gift with genuine repentance and trust.
The Psalmist also saw God’s deliverance as cause for celebration: “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance “ (Psalm 32:7). Christ is our divine Protector. If he loved us enough to enter humanity to deliver us from evil influences and spiritual oppressions by meeting our redemptive need, lifting our spiritual burdens, and showing us a better way, we can confidently cast our fears, inadequacies, guilt, shame, past indiscretions, and failures into a relationship with him. He seeks, loves and forgives without judgment or condemnation and has promised that his spirit would be with those who trust him. He is a refuge for all who heed and is worthy of “shouts of deliverance.”
His invitation to “rest” is really an invitation to “abide” in him, to reflect upon him, to center life around him, to draw strength from him, and to move forward with confidence in God’s goodness and protective love. He is a safe place.
Waiting Confidently
Sitting alone on a beautiful beach in the fog might seem disheartening, particularly if one is on vacation hoping for winter warmth on a sunny, southern beach. Yet, there is hope! The weather forecast is confidently predicting that the fog will clear. It is a matter of patiently waiting. The sun will shine!
The dictionary defines hope as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Hope energizes and motivates! Even if it is fragile and wishful, life would lose meaning without it. However, “wishful hope” is conditional upon unreliable outcomes. Although it may lead to happiness and gratitude, it may also result in disappointment, lonliness, despair, despondency, being overwhelmed, giving up, and suicide. In the words of Scottish poet Robert Burns, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley (often go awry).”
In contrast, biblical hope is different and substantive. It is a confidence, an assurance, a certainty based on God’s character, His promises, and His principles for living. This hope gives meaning to the present and a confident anticipation for an eternal future. The Apostle Paul addressed waiting expectantly and patiently when he wrote about the promises of redemption and the future restoration of creation: “For in this hope we were saved…we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25)
Faith empowers believers to deal optimistically, courageously, and with assurance that all life’s circumstances are purposeful regardless of how murky or mysterious or baffling they may be. For the Christian believer, there is a confident expectation of an eternal future. Thankfully, this hope rests in the person and work of Christ not in one’s personal goodness or good deeds which are inconsistent at best. His sacrificial death paid the price for humanity’s sinfulness and restores any person to God through their trust in his atoning mercy and grace. He promises his presence with us always, and his resurrection guarantees a future beyond the grave.
Those of faith may wait in difficult circumstances, but they can do so with the certainty that God is present and that the sun is already shining on their future.
Beneath the Threatening Clouds
The gathering clouds.overtaking this lone barn are reminders that we are vulnerable to unexpected physical, emotional, and spiritual storms which sweep through our lives overwhelming bright moments, tearing at our spirits, and darkening our souls. However, God has given us Jesus as an example to show the way through these troubles and to redeem them. “The Message, ” a Bible paraphrase, encourages us to
“Keep (our) eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it.”
The rest of that paraphrase explains how he did it. Jesus never lost sight of his Father’s purposes in spite of great opposition and hostility towards him; he moved beyond temptations and rejections and past the shameful humiliation and suffering of the cross to a glorious resurrection and exhilarating finish with God. He was able to tolerate everything along this journey because he trusted his Father. (Hebrews 12:2)
We experience many blessings but also significant, unwanted afflictions. Severe challenges may be brought to us through no fault of our own, but they are frequently caused by our indiscretions, weaknesses, imprudence, miscalculations, or lack of insight and foresight. Even so, believers in God are confident that He has a hand in all of life, that He can and will bring good from devastation, that He will provide peace and comfort and hope in moments of difficulties, that He has promised not to forsake His own and will not allow the fires and deep waters of life to consume or to drown them, that adversity will mature minds and spirits where there is willingness to learn, and that He gives purpose to life’s experiences
Jesus showed us the truth of that reality. He prayerfully sought His Father’s will and walked purposefully with determination and unwavering trust through exhausting emotional, physical, and spiritual trials. Since believers share similar life experiences as Jesus did, they are reminded that they are “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for (them) to do ( Ephesians 2:10). Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection give the confidences of faith: that God unquestionably loves all peoples, that life is more about God’s purposes for us than about ours, that Jesus’ sacrifice on humanity’s behalf paid our sin debt, that he is present, and that trusting in his redemptive power and provision restores us to God and eternal life with Him (John 3:16).
The following poem/ prayer expresses the need to keep Jesus at the center of our thinking and of doing life with God.
“When distant clouds threaten the lingering sun, what will the day have been when done? Bright with gladness? Or sad with brokenness and madness? If the storm descends, I will profess what You have deemed is best. Though my path be difficult and steep with unexpected waters dark and deep, Your hand reaches beyond what I can see while in loving goodness You teach what I should be. When rains and winds block the sun and Your sovereign brush paints colors from which I want to run, my hope is always Jesus, who brings your mercy, grace and love, Almighty, all- knowing God above.” (Anonymous)
Whether we are living beneath sunshine or clouds, God providentially works to redeem, heal, comfort, guide, transform, and draw us to Himself if we trust Him to do so.
Water, Water Everywhere but Still Thirsty!
For reasons now lost to me, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel T. Coleridge was required reading when I was in school. It is a hauntingly weird poem about an old mariner and his crew who are becalmed, parched, and dying while surrounded by sea water. They bemoan: “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.”
This beautiful sphere’s surface with its huge oceans, major rivers, and innumerable lakes is 71percent water, and the human body is approximately 61percent water. In spite of those amazing statistics, water essential for maintaining human life is not always available. Arid lands exist with insufficient drinking water to support their populations, and weather patterns produce periodic droughts that are deadly. Furthermore, water is often contaminated and unsafe to drink.
Even if living where there is an adequate water supply, we can still have a different but fatal, unquenched thirst. We need to be valued, loved, and accepted. Without those we suffer some degree of emotional and spiritual death. So, we struggle to satisfy this thirst through relationships, professional and intellectual endeavors, talents, material things, substances, and certain behaviors. But there is a nagging emptiness; any relief we may experience is unsustained.
The Psalmist expressed this human need in a beautiful song: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). Christ addressed a solution for this soul-craving by claiming to be the source of “living water.” He said that drinking well water would only temporarily quench thirst, but whoever drinks the water that he gives will never be thirsty but have eternal life. (John 4: 10-14)
By believing in Christ’s sacrificial, redemptive act on our behalf, we are promised an unending supply of living water to meet the needs and nurture the life we are meant to possess: forgiveness for moral failures, redemption with no condemnation, restoration to God and rest for our weary souls, the presence and empowering of his Spirit, comfort within trials, peace beyond understanding, security in God’s saving power, and eternal life.
Furthermore, Jesus said, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!” (John 7:37-38) “Anyone” is everyone; his is an all inclusive offer for redemption and restoration to God, who is the One who satisfies the deep longings of the soul. Saint Augustine understood this to be the case when he prayed, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”(Confessions).
The View From Above…
Recently while flying at 30 thousand feet and viewing the vast, changing landscape below, the question crossed my mind as to whether I was closer to God at that altitude. After all, a number of Bible accounts tell about God’s mountain top revelations. However, the descriptives of being “closer to” or “further from” God speak to relationship rather than to physical proximity or awareness. A better question might be is God close, or can I be close to God?
Most, if not all of us, have been, or perhaps are now in a situation where God didn’t or doesn’t seem to show up. Grief? Loss? Addiction? Relationship chaos? Abandonment or betrayal? Financial stress? Errant children? Suffering some injustice? Illness? Or some difficult, lonely situation in which there was no sense of God’s presence? Consider Jacob, who exclaimed as he awoke to the fact that God was dealing with him in his struggling, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16). King David realized that he could never be free from God’s presence when he questioned, “Where can I go from your Spirit?” (Psalm 139)
Not everyone believes in God. However, reality is not dependent upon feelings or belief. Reality is what is true. Scripture clearly declares that God is present whether or not we believe or seek Him. Even though we may be unaware of Him, He is aware of us. ” God looks at the heart” (1Samuel 16:7). Nothing could be more personal than that!
Our unfamiliarity with God may be because our opportunities, resources, and physical and intellectual abilities enable us to meet our goals and material needs. The failure to recognize that God gives us “our daily bread,” results in the misunderstanding that we are not dependent upon His grace. Conversely, we are not invincible. We may have unfulfilled expectations and needs in which we believe a good and just God would intervene but hasn’t. Or we may fail to seek Him in a world which distracts from and even denies our fundamental reasons to live. Instead of enjoying life and God as part of His glorious creation, we follow appealing trends, fads, “enlightened” but misguided ideas, confusing theories, and distorted pleasures which exclude God. Therefore, we miss the point. We think life is all about us, but Scripture reminds us that we are created in God’s image and that the whole of God’s creation declares His glory (Psalm 19; Roman’s 1:18). We are meant to display God’s glory until the day all creation is restored and justice and goodness prevail. For now, God is working everywhere to redeem us and our circumstances.
Our poorly conceived ideas result from a disordered human spirit. We suffer from brokenness and generational failures to live and convey moral truth and godly principles. For proof of spiritual darkness, we need only to turn on the news or look at ourselves! But more important than our sin is God’s grace. We enter this world imperfect, self-absorbed, and struggling for individual identity which will never be complete apart from a relationship with our Creator who loves us enough to show Himself in the mysteries and majesty of His creation, speak to us through His Word, and reveal Himself in the moral Law and in the person and death of Christ. Entering humanity as Emmanuel, “God with us,” Christ has shown us our spiritual need while mercifully and lovingly paying the penalty for our sins so we could be healed and restored to a relationship with God. He has promised that his Spirit will never leave or forsake believers. (1Corinthians 3:16; John 14:.16-17).
God meets us wherever we are. When we look for him, He is there. King David knew that as he cried out in his brokenness, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crused in spirit (Psalm34:18).” Happily, being close to God doesn’t require flying high or climbing to great heights or doing great things to earn His favor. He will be found and will dwell with those who believe Him, seek Him, and welcome Christ. And as the old hymn proclaims, regardless of our spiritual state “He is Only a Prayer Away.”
A New Year’s Thought from Arlington
Beginning a new year is a great time to consider how we view the world, what is central and meaningful to a purposeful life, and how we can live significantly in that dash between our birth date and death.
Here in Arlington lie ordinary women and men, many only boys. They honorably served their country, and many tragically sacrificed their lives so that others might enjoy freedom. Deserving of our respect and gratitude, they are remembered in this special way at Christmas. Unlike their simple, stark, generic tomb stones, their personal stories are varied, colorful, and mostly unknown to us. Even though they gave up dreams and loves when they died, they remind us that we the living are privileged to be still writing our stories. They demand we think about meaning and purpose of our lives.
Sometimes we fail to recoginize the commonality of our humanity. Birth and death are great reminders! Regardless of our self-perceptions, we enter the world and will leave it in the same way we arrived, a fact lamented by Job, Kings David and Solomon (Job 1:21) (Psalm 49:17) (Ecclesiastes 5:15), and the Apostle Paul, who wrote to Timothy: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of it.” (1 Timothy 6:7) Death is a leveling influence. The uniformity of these simple grave markers at Arlington testify to the fact that ultimately all that matters is the state of our souls. Power, status, wealth and fame are left behind; we take no treasure with us.
Although we may be courageous, generous and kind, we all share the vulnerabilities and self-centeredness which lead to flawed lives and to a world that needs redemption. We are on a very short road to eternity. That raises questions. Is life just about me, my body, my choices? Scripture indicates that life is not just about us and that God in His sovereignty and authority has persistently and lovingly given humanity guidelines for health, peace, contentment and joy. He has eternal purposes and desires for us. That is why Christ came to be “God with us” and to be “the Way” back to God by not only showing and teaching us how to live but, more importantly, by dying on the cross, shedding his blood to mend our rebellion and brokenness, and making possible forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God when we repent and believe.
While the solemn scenes of Arlington are replete with stories of courage and valor, they also speak of war, death, and the sadness of man’s depravity. Above all, they remind us that one day God will right all wrongs. He will restore creation to its original innocence, but until then, Christ has come to solve our moral and mortal dilemmas. God’s perfect redemptive plan promises that those who have faith, those who believe and trust will discover forgiveness and everlasting life (John3:16). No longer condemned, believers are free to be who they are intended to be and live their best possible stories in relationship with God forever.
That “good news” is worth pondering as we begin another trip around the sun.
Is Christmas Really the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?
What makes Christmas Eve beautiful and wonder-filled? Perhaps it’s large, soft snow flakes gently brushing faces and whitening eyebrows while twinkling tree lights interrupt the darkness and church carillons chime Silent Night. Maybe it’s Andy Williams singing Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” where “ those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings when friends come back to call” become“ the hap-happiest season of all.”
But is Christmas really the happiest season?
Not everyone believes in the Christmas “story.” Not everyone tunes into the season’s carol singing, good will, and “tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago” with enthusiasm. And for some, holiday gaiety and happy faces are unsettling. Loss, loneliness, disappointment, guilt, humiliating or difficult times, and memories of dysfunctional and broken relationships are ghosts haunting Christmas. They rob or deflate a celebratory spirit for many.
That first Christmas Eve in Bethlehem didn’t start out so great either. It was a difficult, lonely time riddled with tension. There was no room or concern for Joseph’s and Mary’s predicament as they struggled to find a place to give birth to their baby boy. (They knew he was a boy centuries before ultrasound diagnosing!) They were alone and unsupported. The night was not silent, calm, peaceful, and bright. The lowing of cattle was mixed with the cries of birth pains. A sense of urgency, fear, desperation, and confusion emanated from a dark, smelly stable where God’s unrecognized grace and the glorious reason for the season lay humbly swaddled on a musty mound of hay.
Desperation suddenly turned to wonder when excited, inquisitive, awe struck shepherds arrived to see this child because an angel had suddenly appeared to them with “good news of great joy.” It was a monumental God-surprise! Israel had waited centuries to hear it!. That very day their long awaited Savior had been born! Even more surprisingly, this baby was the Savior for “all people” not just Israel. The immensity, beauty, and profound mystery of that announcement had been magnified and verified by God’s indescribable glory surrounding a heavenly choir singing and praising God that His peace would be upon those with whom he was pleased (Luke 2).
However, Jesus had not come to defeat Roman tyranny with sword and rebellion or political power. He would perfectly fulfill the Law and defeat sin on a Roman cross and death with an empty tomb as the once and only sin sacrifice for all mankind. His peace would be on those who believed because trusting faith is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6, John 3:16).
We may have lost the wonder and joy of that promise and those moments. This may not have been the best year or this Christmas the most wonderful holiday. Yet, the miracle and meaning of Christ’s birth is as crucial and marvelous now as the night he was born. This special season brings us the best news ever heard! God came to us! Jesus is humanity’s hope for redemption and eternal life.
Maybe soft, flaky snow falling upon lighted Christmas trees and a church steeple chiming “Silent Night” will remind us of the reality that God loves us so much he came to dwell with us. He lights our way through the darkness to a place of peace if we trust His gift to be our Savior.
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” Let’s receive him.
Chasing the Wind
Powerful winds can quickly whip the sea into a beautiful but terrifying, pounding fury, but regardless of how much we feel, utilize, or struggle against these blowing gales, we cannot grasp the wind. It slips through our fingers.
Following a long life of adventure, ideas, pleasures, and “things,” powerful King Solomon used the imagery of “chasing” or “striving after” the wind to illustrate the futility of many of life’s pursuits. (Ecclesiastes). Although renowned for his intellect, wisdom, and wealth, he perceived he had not fully grasped the overarching meaning and purpose to life.
Eventually concluding that life is meant to be enjoyed but is truly meaningful only when lived in relationship with its Creator, he saw that all human interests and endeavors are ultimately unfulfilling and inconsequential when God’s intended plans for our good are ignored. So, he urged others to build life around a relationship with God and His principles for living. He said that honoring God and living according to His moral plan are imperatives meant for mankind’s good. Therefore, he reminded his youthful readers to not waste their lives: “Remember now Your Creator in the days of your youth…”
Jesus also taught the importance of orienting our physical energies and spiritual lives toward an eternal perspective. He spoke of seeking “first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…” and to not lay up treasures on earth…”but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:33; 19-21).
Latching onto ideas and endeavors which exclude God and His good purposes is “striving after the wind” because there is no enduring substance to them. But one can live with an eternal perspective and meaning. God’s Kingdom “ways” are discovered through the intents of the moral law and Christ’s teachings. But the “Way” to the Kingdom is found through trusting in Christ, who as the perfect fulfillment of the law became the holy payment for our moral failures, our sins, when he died on the cross. Scripture clearly states that it is Christ’s righteousness not ours that is redemptive: “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy” (Titus 3:4-5). So, redemption and righteousness come to us through trusting Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
Life quickly slips through our fingers while we struggle with defining our purpose. The Westminster catechism states: The chief end of man is “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” When we don’t do that, when we become sidetracked, when we don’t acknowledge God and His good desires for us, when we ignore His redemptive gift, when we live lives without love and gratitude for Him, then we minimize ourselves and jeopardize our future. We are just chasing the wind.
Thankful and Content?
Watching this humming bird at its feeder while I porch-sat with an early morning cup of coffee was both entertaining and enlightening. Undoubtedly this tiny but magnificent creature was acting instinctively as it drove away other hungry “hummers.” It showed no signs of grace or generosity while ferociously guarding a feeder filled with enough food to last a month. Rather than being grateful for a blessing bestowed, it became entitled to something not of its making or doing.
That sandbox mentality of “it is mine” with no compunction to share is also a familiar human trait. However, forgetting that all good things are blessings from God, taking them for granted, and assuming that we deserve them or that they are the product of our own doing are ungrateful and disordered beliefs which lead to dissatisfaction.
Dissatisfaction is not always detrimental. It can be a positive motivator leading to improvement or greater achievement or increased dedication to a cause or to instigating change and promoting social justice. Yet, our culture seems to increasingly focus on the “I want” rather than the “I have.” That attitude is destructive, harms our souls, and generates an unhappy, dysfunctional society. Whether it is the demand for special rights, the desire for instant gratification, materialistic goals, cynicism, the lack of moral foundational truths, or the lack of personal discipline, (and the list goes on), we feel the personal and cultural turmoil of ingratitude.
Scripture encourages us to concentrate on blessings and to be content with what we have (Hebrews 13:15) The Apostle Paul encouraged the Philippian believers with the truth that thankfulness is key to contentment. He said “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Taking blessings for granted and believing them to be deserved gives ingratitude an opportunity to works its wicked way, but a thankful attitude results in greater happiness and satisfaction and less depression and anxiety. Neither prosperity nor good circumstances give lasting satisfaction or have eternal value. They are transitory, but Christ holds the answer to inner peace. He essentially said that seeking God and thirsting after His righteousness is what satisfies. That righteousness is not self generated but is the righteousness of Christ gifted to us when we repent and believe and are authentically changed to live in light of the Gospel.
If you “Ain’t Got no Satisfaction” (Kiss), consider the words of Charles Swindoll: “Nothing physical satisfies the soul. Remember that the soul belongs to God. He alone can gratify it.” And hear the Psalmist: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever…For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”(Psalm 107:1,9)
Contentment arises from appreciation for God’s goodness, saving grace, and sovereign providence
Thank God.
Sweet Words from Maine 