I was listening to a podcast last week and it was amazing to hear the complaints coming as Christmas was rolling up. Too much food, too many events, too many gifts, too many sleepless days to come…… It seems as though when some sort of discomfort or challenge comes, the human condition seems to forget the good that was just as evident, but we seem to backseat those moments.
Sometimes, during the Christmas season in the malls and stores, the looks on people’s faces having bags in their hands of gifts they were buying for someone didn’t match the idea of why they were in the mall in the first place.
I’d love to have said, “Hey, I’ll take those off you and take a load off your mind!” but I didn’t…….
Forward Friday is a look back at the year that was and how in the middle of the good, the not so good and everything in between we can learn the beautiful art of being content in every situation. And as always, there is Good News Medicine at the end!
Let’s Get Into This!!
I was thinking of how the year started; lockdowns that were not only ill advised but there was no scientific data or reasoning behind it save the government trying to control things they couldn’t control or had no business trying to control.
Friends and others who had businesses suffered greatly, some even had to enter into bankruptcy. The people who lost out on celebrating birthdays, marriages, funerals and the like and those who were banned from going to normal places…
Almost hard to imagine that happening in a free, supposed civilized society…
And yet in the middle of that, some of the most meaningful moments were happening.
Meeting and making new friends, growing and developing the ones already established, working out, skating, finding a new church home, celebrating the moments because in the tension, there were good moments.
The spring ushered in the end of many of the mandates that were, well, never quite in keeping with what was said they were, and people were starting to breathe again so to speak.
People out and about and in some cases, relearning how to integrate back into connection with others.
In May, we celebrated 25 years of hanging out and it caused me to look back and be grateful for all the good and the wonder of having an incredible woman in my life to walk the road with me.
In the next breath, there were friends that walked out of our lives.
Funny, I think there is a natural propensity to try and keep everything we had in our hands but besides the fact that even though we feel we control life and a lot of what goes with it, we don’t.
And in the case of relationships, some need to leave and/or shift or enter a different realm. We mourn in some cases; some had run their course and were only in our lives for a time….
But then, there is the growth of the new relationships, the growth of ideas, plans, dreams that are all taking place simultaneously….. It’s in the tension of life that we experience all the angles.
The summer gave the opportunity to rest from the rigors of the year, to get away and visit with friends near and far and the enrichment that those times of refreshing brought.
Yet at the end of those moments, there was the tension of work not being what it normally was at the beginning of another fall season.
There was concern over how this was going to work.
Work life cleared up but the “Tension” to trust the process of being faithful and content in the moment was ever-present.
As I sit here and writing about the year, there is “Tension” in the progression of these past few months leading to the end of the year.
The writing has become more focused and dialed in, the catering is growing, and I believe ready to expand in the new year. A prayer I had to become more involved in coaching mentoring “Next Gen” is happening and there was no chasing it. Other dreams and prayers are in site, planning a high school reunion for fun is underway……
Yet in the tension, I feel the pain of friends whose marriages have disintegrated in the past 6 months and the final nail happens a few weeks before the holidays….
Friends who are dealing with sickness or the loss of loved ones, all around the holiday season or family members or friends becoming estranged in the same space of time that good things are taking place….
Time in the Tension…..
What Do We Do With The Tension…?
Thankfully, there is good news medicine to give us some perspective…
Good News Medicine
Next week, to bring in the New Year, I’ll be reflecting about my mom as it will be 4 years next week that she was ushered to her new home in heaven.
One of the things I learned from her was to learn to be content in any and every situation.
There were many times where Mom would remind me that true contentment didn’t rely on the circumstance but the One who lived inside me to help me figure out how to become content, even in the most dire of circumstances.
Mom would say on some drives we would take that even though there were days where her heart was devastated because of ill treatment or feeling deserted, Mom would walk… and walk. Mom would walk for miles and miles and as she did, she would look around and see the wonder and beauty of all God created and decided that while the pain or hurt was real, somehow, the same Creator could help her find peace in the roughest of circumstances.
I saw it for myself over and over, so it made sense to follow the good medicine that was modeled to me.
How I wish I had followed her sage advice more often when I was younger…But as I’ve gotten older, her words ring true.
Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. Instead Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.
Luke 12:22/30-31
The Apostle Paul, was in prison, shared his experience of the secret with all who would listen which is crazy because who says this while they are in prison unless it is someone who has been battle tested and knows something:
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[a] who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13
I often wonder if I would say that in the same situation but having said that, we all have our road to walk and there are the moments we must go through at times and to learn to be content in any and all of all of them really make a difference on our outlook.
The secret to contentment is very simple. And it does not require heroic acts of piousness.
Actually, in fact it requires a childlike response from us. The secret is articulated and summed up in this phrase: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” Proverbs 3:5
It’s Said That Contentment Is:
“The bottom and root of all contentment is this: when there is an evenness and proportion between our hearts and our circumstances.”
Webster’s says this about contentment: Rest or quietness of the mind in the present condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace, restraining complaint, opposition, or further desire.
My heart breaks this week as 3 friends have lost loved ones, 2 on Christmas day, the many who are navigating this first Christmas without a loved one or friend, those who have family in the hospital, job insecurity, a lot of seemingly insurmountable moments…..
Yet, the message at the end of the year for 2022 contentment and it is simply found in this thought:
God promises to give us peace and contentment if we trust him. He really wants us to experience them in increasing measure, even here in this troubled world.
We all live in the same world but there is a secret to living in the tension…. He has given us the simple, hard secret: Trust Him. It is the only way.
I was singing this song today; maybe it can warm your heart as you navigate the "Moments".
The Thoughts I Think....
So today I spent time with a friend whose marriage literally just crumbled days earlier....
In the same day, spent time with another friend whose dad just passed away on Christmas day..
The friend whose spouse is battling a seemingly terminal illness.....
The friend who is lonely......
The one who is trying to figure out how to pay for the bills as they lost their job......3 days before Christmas...
I'm so glad that many are doing well but to those who are in the struggle..........
Words and platitudes are not enough; to even consider walking in contentment while living in the tension, we need something that will give us some encouragement to move forward.
One Of My Favorite Verses...
Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God. Psalms 42:5
It's not easy to consider another way to think when we've struggled but I believe we can trust battle tested methods to help us when we are in need.
Happy New Year and my hope is that we can all more than just navigate “Living In The Tension” in 2023, we can find contentment in every situation.
Walking the road of contentment with you!!
Dave
#ForwardFriday #Contentment #LivingInTheTension #Hope #Trust #Promise #Evenness #Proportion #Blog #Speaker #GoodNews #HappyNewYear #Trust #TheOnlyWay
This is really good. I've been feeling the tension of contentment for the past month or so, and it's a battle for sure! God's been reminding me of Peter walking on the water - the tension of focusing on Jesus, and not looking at the waves. Fighting to be content is like this I think. His words to me are 'quit looking at the waves...' Thanks for this Dave!