Contentment 101

This morning I am sitting in a classroom ready to be schooled by my personal teacher. No, I'm not at the University of Washington or Seattle Pacific University or Washington State...but I am in school! When I graduated from George Fox last May I thought that possibly those days were over...that the years of papers, and exams, and reading required books were a thing of the past. And yet this morning once again I am back in school....the school of doing life.

You see, my life is a classroom setting with one basic subject and one Master teacher. In fact I have found Him giving me daily lessons complete with tough exams and poignant evaluations. So here I am in school again today ready to face a tough teacher and an even tougher self.

The classroom curriculum...Contentment 101...the Master teacher...God Himself.

Paul wrote in his letter to Philippi that he had "learned to be content whatever the circumstances." So today I have done some gut checks on my learning curve by asking tough questions like a good student:

Is God Himself enough for me in the now of my life?
Are His current provisions enough?
Am I postponing my joy and contentment until I obtain a future ministry job?
Will job security give me that contentment and joy?

Tough questions but then again Paul said that contentment is a learned process. In fact I can live a godly life and not be content (check out 1 Timothy 6:6). I can be busy with ministry and godly living as a replacement for God Himself. The same question returns...is God truly enough?

The learning curve is simple...contentment is the art of adjusting to life's daily ups and downs with my attitude. And attitude is adjusting the volume of what I hear from God in life and the focus of what I see Him doing in a daily awareness of his fingerprints on my personal circumstances. So when Paul said "I can do all things through him that strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13), he's not talking about a universal promise that I can do anything I want or desire and then He will give me the power to do so. For example, I CAN get back in full time ministry because He promises to rubber stamp it will His strength.

Instead He's talking about doing a life of contentment (living life with that attitude) because of a reliance on God's strengthening presence. I CAN do life with contentment because of His presence and care. That includes contentment with unemployment and financial insecurity and job rejections and getting older (56 in December)...and the Detroit Lions losing! Wow...what a tough class!

So if you will excuse me, I have to get back to the books again of Contentment 101. I still have SO much to learn.