Contentment {Romans 8:18-30}

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Please read:  Romans 8:18-30

I heard a story about a lumberjack who was going through a plot of woods to be cut.  He noticed a mother bird starting to build her nest.  He knew her chicks would hatch when the trees were cut down and they would probably die.  So he devised a plan…

Each day he went to that tree and shook it until she left to build her nest in another tree.  Each day the mother bird flew around wondering, “What’s up with this guy harassing me so much?”  He did this day after day… tree after tree… until finally she built her nest safely on the rocks of a cliff.

“Trouble” was the lumberjack’s way of keeping her and chicks safe.  What we think is trouble may very well be God’s way of ultimately protecting us. 

 

God has a purpose for our lives and as much as we would like for our lives to be happy, God’s plan is to fulfill His purpose.  Jeremiah 29:11

When you are not a believer, and life is tough and it seems like you don’t ever get your way, you blame everyone else.  Even as a believer we struggle because we are living in this sin-filled world, we still want that “one break”.  We want this life to be or become easier.

Maybe you thought she wouldn’t die from that illness; or maybe you are following that financial plan and you thought it would lead you to not struggle to pay your bills; or perhaps you thought by now your wayward child would be sitting next to you in church.

Whatever your thoughts and plans are, God’s plan is to be glorified.  We need to turn our thoughts away from questioning why this hardship is happening, into accepting that God is allowing it because He is doing something in my life that will result in my good!  We are to trust in God and not life’s treasures.  We need to find security in heaven and not on earth. 

Things don’t work out better and for the good BECAUSE a person is a Christian; GOD MAKES things works out for the Christian’s good.  GOD is the one who is active in these events so that we are ultimately blessed.  So you see, God gets the glory.

 

Our attitude reveals our heart every time something difficult arises.  When we are frustrated with our life, with what is happening and the circumstances we are in are difficult, it appears we don’t understand or believe God.  We just don’t grasp Romans 8:28.  Those who complain about their lot in life or play the martyr or find fault in others first, are not living by faith nor do they truly believe what God has said in Romans 8:28.  We truly need to think biblically.  And since we cannot think as God thinks, we must learn to trust Him in all things.  Proverbs 3:5

The story of the lumberjack and the birds reminds me that God knows exactly what I need and I don’t need to run around trying to find all the answers.  Matthew 6:32


True contentment is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Blessings ladies,

Lisa Thayer