What is contentment?
What does it take to be content?
The dictionary definition of contentment is - happy, satisfied, pleased, comfortable, at ease.
The Greek word for contentment means - self-complacent, enough, suffice, satisfied. Complacent means contentment, satisfaction, self-satisfaction.
To be content is to be at peace and at rest within yourself and with your God.
The following Scripture was the one God gave me for the year 2009 and through it He taught me much about contentment.
"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."
What does it take to be content?
The dictionary definition of contentment is - happy, satisfied, pleased, comfortable, at ease.
The Greek word for contentment means - self-complacent, enough, suffice, satisfied. Complacent means contentment, satisfaction, self-satisfaction.
To be content is to be at peace and at rest within yourself and with your God.
The following Scripture was the one God gave me for the year 2009 and through it He taught me much about contentment.
"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."
Psalm 16:5, 6
"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;......"
It is the Lord who specifies and designates my portion - my piece, my part, my share, my lot.
It is the Lord who specifies and designates my cup - a measure of capacity.
I believe that the one who assigns, who specifies and designates my "lot" in life is God.
What I know or believe to be true about God will affect how I react and/or respond to this Scripture.
If I believe that God is who He says He is, then I know I can trust the one who assigns or designates to me.
What does this encompass?
My whole life -
How I look
Where I live; when and where I was born
Who my parents are; who my family is
My job
My spouse or lack thereof
My daily portion of food
My free time
My exercise time
My finances
My children
etc, etc, etc, etc, etc
Acts 17:26-28 says, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being."
The Lord has assigned me a measure of capacity; and He has assigned how much this container can and should hold AND He has assigned the contents of the cup!!
What is your capacity?
God knows what each one of us can and cannot handle because HE has assigned the capacity to each one based on His plan and purpose for each one.
Don't judge another based on your capacity!
Summary thus far - (Donna's paraphrase) - Lord, you have designated for me my part, my fate, my ration, my share, my serving, my lot; You have weighed it out and allotted it to me and you have have specified a measure of capacity; how much this container can and should hold and you have actually assigned the contents of my cup!
When we accept this, we are on our way to contentment, to that place of satisfaction because we KNOW we are right where God wants us to be and we want to be in the center of His will.
This place of satisfaction eliminates jealousy, striving, anger, resentment, covetousness, etc. We live "in the shadows" of life when we allow ourselves to make comparisons. There will always be someone who is -
prettier
thinner
smarter
richer
better dressed
more spiritual
luckier
There will always be someone with -
better behaved children
a more thoughtful husband
a better job
a nicer car
a better family
better health
etc, etc, etc.
We need to learn to be content with who we are and where we are and what we have and what we have not - and trust God in that!
"....you have made my lot secure."
A "lot" is a portion or destiny; one's fortune or fate in life; a piece of land having fixed boundaries; allocation; allotment; share.
To be "secure" is to be free from danger; safe; free from fear or doubt; assured; certain; to make certain; guarantee.
WOW! This tells me that the portion or lot that God has assigned me is secure. He has made it secure. It is safe, certain.
My place is secure! I can be free from fear and/or doubt. He guards my place from danger or risk of loss. He makes it certain. He guarantees it! I don't have to worry about anyone stealing my portion. What God has assigned to me is mine and cannot be stolen!
What I don't have is because God has not assigned it to me!
Summary - Lord, you have made my destiny, my fate, my allocation, my share - safe and certain; free from fear and doubt, free from risk of loss. You have guaranteed it!
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