Think about a circumstance in your life that you’d change if you could. Whether it’s a hardship or unfulfilled desire, in order to be content, you must accept that the situation has been allowed by God, even if He didn’t cause it.
When I face such things in my life, I often pray, “Lord, I choose to accept this as though it’s coming from You. I’m choosing to look to You.” Then I can rest in the knowledge that I’m His child. Instead of feeling like a victim of my circumstance, I know I’m cared for and guided by my sovereign Father.
I’ve also found it helps when we fully submit ourselves to God. This doesn’t mean approaching God insincerely and saying, “Well, Lord, I just want to thank You for this!” Be honest and admit, “This is painful and I don’t like it. But I choose to submit to You because You are trustworthy and loving. I choose to draw from Your strength for everything I need.” My friend, if you do this, your concerns will lose their power.
Do you believe Romans 8:28? If you do, you can entrust yourself to the Lord, knowing that He has your best interest at heart, will take care of you, and won’t ever leave your side. When you embrace these truths, you’re on your way to contentment in Jesus.
True contentment is determined by our attitude and responses rather than by our circumstances. And because Paul had learned this secret, he was able to experience joy and peace in any kind of situation.
The apostle understood what it meant to live in Christ and to have Christ living in him (John 15:1-9; Gal. 5:22-23). He knew that the treasure he possessed within could never be stolen. And that gave Paul confidence in his identity as a child of God, with full access to the abundant life Jesus offers.
I want to challenge you: This week, when something threatens to steal your contentment, choose to lean on God. When you find yourself becoming anxious or angry, stop and say, “Lord, You are my source. Provide me with the capacity to be kind, the forgiveness I need to extend, and the love I need to express.”
Watch and see how God will quiet your spirit and provide confidence when you draw from Him as your source. You’ll be surprised at your own attitude: When you respond from within—rather than from the flesh—Jesus will lead you to genuine contentment.
Some people don’t believe Jesus is God, so they claim He was simply a good person. Others may intellectually acknowledge Jesus as God’s Son but have no personal relationship with Him. His true followers, however, believe in their heart that Christ is Savior (Rom. 10:9) and they’ve been adopted into His family.
Ephesians 2:1-2 says that those who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus are spiritually dead and living according to the sin nature. But when a person places faith in Him, spiritual birth takes place—he or she is made alive in Christ and becomes a new creation no longer enslaved to the “flesh” (John 3:3; Eph. 2:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
Our position in the Lord affects everything about us—attitudes, emotions, conversation, and conduct. The status quo of society no longer fits us. Instead, believers grow in Christlikeness, embracing thoughts and deeds that are pleasing to God.
Jesus willingly took our sins upon Himself and experienced divine wrath in our place. God accepted His death as full payment for our sins and then raised Jesus from the dead to a position of divine glory (Eph. 1:20). Let the truth of who Jesus Christ is sink in and strengthen your commitment to follow His ways.
Teaching people to swim begins with a simple lesson—they must put their face in the water. That first little step helps a person get comfortable in the water and is critical for all swimming skills. In the same way, following God begins with a small act of obedience. It may seem insignificant or unrelated to the task at hand, but that’s where God wants us to start.
When Jesus asked to borrow a fishing boat, it must have seemed like just an ordinary request. Peter had no idea it would open the door to ministry and a remarkable adventure with the Lord. Saying yes to God in the small things is essential to discovering His purpose for us, and what’s more, our obedience will also often cause others to benefit. Peter’s compliance with Jesus’ next small request—to let down his nets one more time—resulted in two boatloads of fish, which was more than enough for all those with him.
Obedience to God may appear unreasonable at times—like a carpenter asking a professional fisherman to try once more, even though he had been fishing without success all night. But obeying the Lord can lead to divinely ordained opportunities and blessings for us and others. How do you respond to God’s requests? Does the word “yes” come quickly?
Did you ever peek ahead to the end of a story because you just couldn’t wait for the conclusion? This is oftentimes what we long to do in our own life, especially in difficult seasons. We want to know when our affliction will end. But only God knows the future, so we must learn to trust Him in the meantime.
Joseph probably wished he could glance into the future to find out when his life would stop spiraling downward. Between the hatred of his brothers who sold him into slavery, the anger and lies of his master’s wife, and incarceration that left him languishing, it would have been easy for Joseph to lose hope. Those 13 years of his life must have seemed like an eternity.
Even though Joseph couldn’t see the future, God was with him every step of the way. And at the end of the dark years, he proclaimed he had learned that “God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).
We can’t avoid trials. But knowing that God is with us and His purpose is good gives us the hope needed for enduring hardship with peace.
