Contentment – With What We Do Not Have (Episode 1)

Hello All,

With the New Year in place, there are some of us who would have written a list of resolutions.

However, I suspect that ‘contentment’ is not a common item on a New Year’s resolutions list.

People would seldom write: ‘I hope to be a more contented person’ on their list.

Today and for the next few weeks, we are going to explore the meaning of contentment.

Contentment – With What We Do Not Have (Episode 1)

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (12^th December 2014)

Why are our hearts unsatisfied and not at rest?

What are they seeking in their neverending quests?

Where do they run to for fulfillment and meaning?

What are their unmet wants, desires and longings?

For the things we do not have, we yearn and desire

To procure and gain them at all costs, we aspire

Just when we thought we have secured them in our hands

They slip too easily through our fingers like sand

Our dreams are shattered with broken expectations

Disillusionment sets in with disappointments

Are we able to thank God in spite of failures?

Are we able to find joy in our Creator?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Points for Reflection:

[11] Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

[12] 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.

[13] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

(Philippians 4:11-13 ESV)

·         Why is your heart unsatisfied and not at rest?

·         What are you seeking for life’s meaning?

·         What are your unmet wants, desires and longings?

·         In the Bible, Paul, who was an Apostle and Christian missionary, faced innumerable hardships, trials and persecution in his efforts to share the gospel. In the Bible verses above, he told the Philippians that in whatever situation he was in, he learned to be content. He was able to be content for Christ strengthened him in the hardest and most lonely periods of his life.

·         Like Paul, are you able to find contentment in God in the midst of unmet longings and desires?