He Is Enough

Contentment.

My one little word for 2015. 

Two weeks ago our pastor challenged us to pray for God to reveal a word to us for the year that we would focus on.  It's funny to me how the mind plays tricks on us.  How we think we know what God will speak to us (which is totally hilarious that I would think I can predict God, who has proven himself to be completely unpredictable yet always perfect).  Someone please tell me I'm not the only one who tries to project things on God?! 

Anyways, contentment, my word, isn't what I would have expected. Discipline, maybe. But not contentment. 

Contentment wasn't on my radar because I'm not discontented. I wouldn't even say I'm not happy with my life or wish anything different.  Because I am, and I wouldn't.  So I began to pray for clarity about my word.  The one that just kept coming to mind.  And then the pieces began to fall together.

For the last five years, every year, something big has happened.  Some change, something new, something exciting, and at first, something traumatic.  New jobs, new houses, four pregnancies, one baby, and all in all, A LOT of BIG changes for us.  As 2015 approaches, I've found myself peeking around the corner waiting for the next big thing.  Is this our year to build a house? Will we buy instead? Are we going to try for another baby? All of these questions about the future and my ever nagging desire to squash uncertainty like a bug with a "plan." 

It was like God told me to simmer down. Be content. Be still. Enjoy the slow ride. Enjoy the now.  And I finally got it. It is like salve to the wound of the unknown. 

I started seeking out scripture on being content.  The Bible has so much to say about it. It covers so many areas of my life that I find myself in contempt of being content.  

"So if we have enough food & clothing, let us be content." 1 Timothy 6:8

"Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." 1 Timothy 6:6

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have." Philippians 4:11

This struggle with contentment isn't just mine. It's yours too.  We live in the culture of comparison.  Where we see perfectly staged lives, meals, children, outfits, homes, cars, etc on social media. We are bombarded with advertisements online of things we must have.  We are led to believe that we must have everything that we desire. And that if we don't get it, that we are being deprived of truly living. This lie is stealing my joy and it's stealing yours too.  Jesus Christ didn't come to give us abundant homes. Abundant closets. Abundant bank accounts.  He came to give us abundant life. Life that is rich and satisfying in a way that no online purchase, bank statement, or amount of square footage can give you.  

For the year, contentment is my focus. Living abundantly in Christ, not in purchases. Leaning into Him to be completed satisfied in all because He is Enough.  He is enough for me and He is enough for you.