My dearest sister,
Do you ever struggle with being content? I sure do. I want to share with you what God has been showing me of my own heart lately. I struggle with contentment as a single woman longing to become a wife and mother. My desire for marriage is so strong that I often find myself despairing of my singleness, wondering how much longer I’ll have to wait for God to bring the right man into my life.
I began to think that being content was a hopeless pursuit, because I could not rid myself of my desire for a husband. I gave into temptations to self-pity because I wasn’t trusting in my Lord and Savior. It’s a tough place to be, dear sister, and I’m sure you can relate.
Then, I was reminded that God is with us even in the strongest storm! He showed me that I needed to renew my mind by seeking after Him through the reading of His word and prayer. But I had a problem. I still have a problem, it is called sin. In this case, the sin that manifested itself in my heart was a desire for self-pity. I realized that I would rather feel sorry for myself, for the things that I don’t have (i.e. a boyfriend) than be thankful for every spiritual blessing that God has blessed me with in Christ (Ephesians 1). I didn’t want to change my thinking; I didn’t want my mind to be renewed through the word of God. Thankfully, God didn’t give up on me! He never does when He’s dealing with His princesses, and as daughters of the King that’s exactly what you and I are. He reminded me that I am His beautiful princess and that He has wonderful plans for me: “plans to prosper [me] and not to harm [me], plans to give me hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). He doesn’t want me to be exactly like someone else or live the same life as another person. He wants me to live out the life He has planned for me! And I don’t know about you, but I’m betting that His plan is a lot more exciting than my own.
God reminded me too, that I am not on this earth to pursue my own pleasures or make my own plans. I am to follow His plan, for that is far better. My purpose is not to live a life completely of my own design, fulfilling every desire that should arise in my heart on my own time-table. No, dear one, my purpose and your purpose in this life is to bring glory to God and exalt Christ, showing Him to be preeminent over all things (Colossians 1:18).
So, how do I (or maybe you) become content? I remember, and still experience, how I would use my feelings to determine whether or not I was content. No wonder I couldn’t achieve my goal. Our feelings are so fickle that it’s a wonder people place so much trust in them, even using them to make big life decisions like who they will marry or what job they will take. But something I found curious as I was searching the Scriptures was that God never said anything about feeling content. Rather we are called to be content. Who we are and what we are is always a choice. Contentment is no different. We must make a decision for contentment in order to enjoy it and increase our thankfulness for every blessing God has given us. You and I don’t have to stop wanting something or deny that your heart has deep desires. God gave us those desires—desires for friendship, intimacy, marriage, motherhood (the list goes on)—they are not evil in and of themselves. It is when those desires become preeminent, when they begin to even rule our hearts that we have crossed over the line with God. Instead, we must trust God that He will fulfill those desires in His timing (not mine and yours) and thank Him for working out His perfect plan in our lives and for blessing us far more than we could ever deserve.
Trust in Him, today, my dear, beautiful sister. Be Content! Delight yourself in the Lord for you are a daughter of the King, His princess and guess what? He loves you!
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1).
Your sister,
Kayla