Contentedness

John 14: 27 (KJV)

“My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Psalm 37:7 (KJV)

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”

Ever been berry picking with your family? Lots of fun!...and work! Often when our family would go berry picking we would end up having a contest to see who could pick the most berries. I always loved it!...The only problem is, I've never been good at it! Especially when I was younger, I just couldn't wait to eat the berries, so instead of putting them into my bucket, I would pop them into my mouth. Now, I may have picked a lot of berries, but most of them never saw the inside of my bucket. When it was time to go, and all of us kids would gather around to see who had done the best. I would always feel so disappointed I hadn't done well. I felt even worse when I would realize that the few berries I did have in my bucket were rather squished, and bedraggled looking. The stains on my face and mouth gave away that I had been eating a lot more then I had been putting in the bucket! A lot of the time mom would give who ever picked the most (usually one of my two older brothers), a candy bar, a dollar, or some other small prize. I always wanted to get that prize (I mean...A CHOCOLATE BAR!!) but I was always to occupied with what I wanted while I was picking the berries (eating the berries in other words) to think about the the candy bar in the future.

As I got older, I didn't eat as many, but I still didn't do well in our family competitions. My problem was that I could never just stay put and pick the berries. I saw all these wonderful berries, all around...that patch looked just a little be better then this one, so I'd run over to it, pick a few, and them I would see another patch that was even better! But by the time I would get over the that patch, I would see another, that was just that much better then this one! And so it would go on, I would pick a couple, see some that were even brighter, and better, and go over to them...I spent more time walking then I did picking. I just hopped from bush to bush, trying to get the best of the best. I was never just content with the berries I had ready at my finger tips to pick right then. I always wanted some that were even better. These ones just weren't good enough. From farther away, they looked wonderful! But once you got up close, you could tell that they weren't quite as good as you thought they were...but those ones over there were! And then it would be time to go. I, along with all my siblings, would all crowd around to see who had won. I always lost. The berries I had were bumped and bruised from me rushing from place to place, and I didn't have very many at all! All I had was a couple handfuls of bruised and bumped berries, for the fruits of my labor (yes, pun intended :-P).

Now you're probably wondering what berry picking has to do with God and the Bible. Well, I just want to use this as a picture of discontentment. When I was younger I could never wait for the good things, I just had to have them right now. Do we do that with God? We want all the things he has promised to us...RIGHT NOW! A rather cliche example would be...wait for it... marriage/dating/courting. Yep, that's right. Now days a good portion of most teen girls lives are wasted wishing for what is in their future. Instead of enjoying the stage in life they are at right now, all they do is sigh and wish for when they're older! Our teen years are SO important. Before we have the responsibilities of being married, and having kids, we can do so many amazing things for God! Right now we are young, full of life! God has his own timing, wait for God's plan for you, don't try to make your own plans! I'm not saying that I am excluded from this crowd, because I'm not! I'm just trying to take a step back and look at the big picture here. I don't have to get married right away, though, that may be God's plan for me, I obviously don't know. But right now why can't I be living as much as I can for Christ, instead of just thinking about later? God will bring the right guy into my life when the time is right (not saying I don't think he already has....). But right now, I don't actually need to be worrying about that. I should be worrying about what God wants me to be doing...right now. Not my future! God has it all taken care of! When we take the good things before we're supposed to, we'll end up stained in sin, and all we'll have is a bunch of bad fruit.

Matthew 6:25-34 (KJV)

“25Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more then meat, and the body more then raiment?26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are ye not much better then they?27Which of you by taking thought can add on cubit unto his stature?28And why take ye thought for the raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:29And yet I say unto you, the even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?31Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

So what about when I was older? I would just hop from bush to bush, trying to find some berries that would satisfy me. I tried, and tried, but I was never satisfied with what I found. We see things in this world that we think will make us happy, satisfy us. So we go and get these things, do these things, etc. Well, those things might make you happy for a little bit, but pretty soon the newness, novelty if you may, of them wears off, and you're left right where you started, searching. So we hop from thing to thing, looking for something that will satisfy us...but they don't! So we go to another thing. But nothing works long enough, we always end up searching again! No matter how many different things we try, none of them will ever satisfy what only can be satisfied by God. Next time you're feeling that longing for that something, go and read your bible! Go and talk to a friend about God. No matter how much you search for something else, only the things of God will be able to make you happy! Go read that chapter you discovered that made you feel so pumped, alive! Go reread it, re-catch that vision!

Ecclesiastes 4:6 (KJV)

“Better is an handful with quietness, then both the hands full with travail and vexation of the spirit.”

Psalm 33:20 (KJV)

“Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.”

There is another aspect to my jumping all over the place. As I went from bush to bush, I never took the time to really enjoy the fruit that I had in front of me! I just looked past it, searching for better, when there was none better! I looked, but I never took the time to enjoy them, I ran off to quickly! God gives us things in life, wonderful things! But sometimes we don't enjoy them to their full extant because we're busy running off to do something else. He gives us these things for our own enjoyment. He gives us these things to build us up, encourage us. He gives us these things, to satisfy that longing that we're trying to fill. He gives us the answer to what we're looking for, but we're looking to quickly to stop and see it! God provides the things, and people to encourage and uplift us. So don't try to find another way to encourage yourself. Nothing will ever work, ultimately only God can help and satisfy us, so why waste your time? Stop trying so hard and take a moment to see those things that God has given you already! You don't have to look far! God wants to help us, so he wont hide his help! Believe it or not, your siblings, your parents, they could easily be the encouragement that God has given you! Get to know them.

Hebrews 2:1 (KJV)

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at anytime we should slip.”

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- Bekah