Contentment In Life

Here are my notes from a bible study I taught on contentment. Kind of long - Enjoy!

Contentment In Life by Pam Helm

A famous hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, believed God's purpose and plan for her life was good. She heard God's calling on her life and knew what her role was. Blinded by an illness at 6 weeks old, Fanny never became bitter of her handicap. At the age of 8 she wrote the following:

"Oh what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world,
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don't;
To weep and sign because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't"

Listen to her comments regarding the doctor who without knowing caused her blindness: "I have heard that this physician never stopped expressing his regret at the occurrence; and that it was one of the greatest sorrows in his life. But if I could meet him now, I would say, Thank you, Thank you, over and over again for making me blind. Although it may have been a blunder on the physician's part it was no mistake on God's. I truly believe it was God's intention that I should live my days in physical darkness, so as to be better prepared to sing His praises and incite others to do the same." One time a preacher sympathetically remarked, "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you." She replied quickly, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?" "Why?" asked the surprised clergyman. "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!" Isn't that amazing! Her blindness didn't control her life nor her thinking but instead she allowed God to use it to transform her thinking.

Even though a doctor made a terrible mistake, God gave the church over 8,000 songs through her increased spiritual insight. Fanny wrote hymns that have endured throughout time and has inspired others to deeper faith in God. Fanny Crosby passed away at the age of 95 and on her grave in Bridgeport, CT, there is a simple little headstone with the name "Aunt Fanny," and these words: "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine." Fanny was content with her role in life.

I cut this out due to time issues, but I thought I would live it in on my blog page... Just like Fanny Crosby, my Aunt Maggie had learned to be content with her life situation as well. My aunt was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and was confined to a wheelchair in my teenage years however she did not let her diagnoses define her thinking but let it transform her life. She came to live with us for a period of time with I was 12 or 13 years old. I had decided it was my job to take care of her, to help her get dress, to give her baths, to help her go to the bathroom etc. At night she would ring a bell to let me know she had to go to the bathroom. I would wake up and go downstairs, pick her up and transport her to the porta potty. Each night after I got her back into bed, I would crawl in next to her and we would talk for a while before I would go back upstairs. One night, out of the blue, I said, "Aunt Maggie, do you miss your legs?" Without giving it a thought she said "No, you want to know why? Because when I get to heaven, I will get new legs, and I will race you all over those streets of gold!" It became our little promise. After that night, every time I would talk to her, we would end our conversations with "if I don't see you again on earth, I will see you in heaven... and the race will be on!" My Aunt learned to be content with her circumstances and let it transform her life and thinking.

Contentment... How can Paul say in Phi 4:10 "for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances?" What is contentment? (Being at ease in one's situation.) How can one learn to be content?

Contentment comes from believing God's promises over our current circumstances. Romans 8:28 says, "We know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Do we really know and believe that God causes all things to work for our good? Do we? Seriously - do we really believe? The key is to truly believe God's word and live it out in our daily lives. If we do believe God's promises, then Romans 8 offers us a promise that we can claim and hold on to. In this verse God promises us that His purposes and plans for our lives are good. Everything that God allows to touch our lives are all used for our good. If we are living in this truth (the truth that God causes all things to work together for our good) we are living in hope - no matter what life has in store for us. When we choose to believe the truth that He will use these situations for our good, we can't help but find hope in Him and strength to get through life's hard times.

Someone I had mentored had once said to me that they thought I had the gift of singleness. To be honest - that statement shocked me. Anyone that knows me well, knows that is so far from the truth. When sharing this comment with my mentor she said, "Pam, I don't believe you have the gift of singleness - you are only choosing to live day to day believing that God is good to you and where he has you right now is exactly where you are supposed to be." It is only through trusting and believing God that I can have hope and find strength to press on in life.

Genesis 37 - 50
Joseph is a person who found hope in God despite the twists and turns his life took. What are some of the roles he played?

A Favorite Son - Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob and as a result...
A Despised and Rejected Brother - his brothers despised him because he was his father's favorite son and as a result his brothers acted out of hatred and plotted Joseph's murder, but at the last minute they chickened out and sold him into slavery instead.
A Slave in Egypt - Joseph was falsely accused, imprisoned and sold into slavery. Joseph became a slave to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's bodyguard. For 13 years, Joseph was imprisoned! During this time, Joseph remained faithful to God and as a result was blessed.
Joseph rose to a position of status within the Egyptian government - than a famine hit the land and Joseph's brothers went to Egypt asking for food. Joseph finds himself having to make a decision. He could either fill his brother's grain sacks with food or he could have his brothers killed. What does Joseph do? Joseph said "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring this present result, to preserve many people's lives. Gen 50:20.

Do we have eyes like Joseph? In the situation we are in - do we see passed the 13 years of imprisonment? Are we allowing God to use our imprisonments to mold us into His image? Or are we allowing our imprisonments to keep us captive - unchanged, bittered, fearful, controlled... Do we see the bigger picture of God's plan, or will we miss it because we are focused on ourselves and the circumstances we are in. Joseph saw past the imprisonment and saw that God was at work - He had hope and believed that God would work it all out.

My parents were missionaries in the Philippines for three years working with the 1.5 million street children. Prior to my parents leaving one of my sister’s struggled over her children not having the benefit of my parents influence in their lives. I saw it differently – we have been blessed to have their influence for so many years and that wouldn’t stop. It was time for 75+ children plus handfuls of adults to have the same blessings we have had. It was about seeing the bigger picture and getting away from focusing on our “loses.”

When we find ourselves in roles, we don’t particularly like we need to trust that God is at work. We can have hope knowing that God will work these very things for our good.

Let’s look at Romans 8:28 again – it says, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Called according to his purpose –If we are Christians (if we have put our trust and believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior) we are called according to HIS purpose. What does it mean to be called according to HIS purpose?

When we see our calling as surrendering to God’s plan for our lives and not our own plans it gives us significant purpose for living. Have you ever thought that there must be more to this life than what I am living? I challenge you that as Christians we should no longer have such thoughts because God has given us purpose to live. As Christians we can no longer live our lives according to our own desires, plans and dreams. We exist totally for God’s purpose and His plans. We exist to please God and to use the gifts He has blessed us with in – in the situations God has places us in. God calls us to serve Him even when we’re not where we want to be and when life is not easy. I think again about my parents – they are in their final years of life – when the world tells them to go play golf, relax and go on vacation – You deserve it! You know what, that isn’t the plan God has for them. God isn’t finished using them… He had a plan!

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

God’s plan for our lives reflects His purpose, His methods and His timetable. God is not up there with a pencil and an erasing and adding and erasing as we go along in this life. He has a plan. A blueprint. He has ordained each phase of our lives for a reason. Think about Joseph - We can see God’s purpose, God’s method and God’s timing in Joseph’s life. God’s purpose for Joseph was to help preserve lives, God’s method was to use his brother’s envy and allow them to sell Joseph into slavery in order to get Joseph to Egypt. God’s timetable must have felt too long to Joseph (13 years) but just the right amount of time for God to orchestrate His plan. Through it all – Joseph learned to be content with his roles.

We can also see God’s purpose, God’s methods and God’s timetable in Esther’s life.

Esther –The story of Esther opens with a festival in which King Xerxes calls for the current queen to join the festivities however she refuses – humiliating him in front of others. As a result of her refusal, she is dethroned. Eventual the king looks for a new queen and summons the most beautiful women before him. Esther is a beautiful Jewish maiden who is paraded before the king and over time is chosen as the new queen. Next, an incident takes place in which Mordecai (the person who raised Esther) saves Xerxes' life. A man named Haman is appointment as prime minister who personally hates Mordecai and plots to take revenge by means of a royal decree that sentences all Jews to death. The Jews are in despair and look for an intercessor. Mordecai perceives that Esther's position as queen has placed her in a position to approach the king. Mordcai asks Esther to be the champion her people's cause – which as a result creates great personal risk. Esther tactfully approaches the king, and Mordecai is elevated to honor by the Adversary Haman.

God’s purpose was to use Esther to free the Jews, God’s method was to place Esther in the palace as the queen and God’s timetable was perfect…. She was placed there in order to save a nation from destruction.

Read the leaf story http://gigglesgiggling.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

God doesn’t ask us to understand the twists and the turns, and the whys and hows of life. He only asks that we trust Him through the process. God is at work – he will continue to work all things for our good as we live out our lives surrendering to His perfect purpose, His perfect method and His perfect timetable. You have been called for such a time as this – will you believe God's word, raise up and make a difference in the role God has placed you in?