Trust and Contentment

The Storm

Today I awoke to the rain hammering down on the house for the second day in a row at around 3 a.m.  Of course I was thankful that it was not hail or a tornado that other places have experienced lately.  Some of you reading this I imagine are thinking, “I wish we would have gotten that rain instead.”  Our weather here in Minnesota has been early spring like for most of the month of June with high temperatures at times in the 50s and 60s.  Our crops are delayed due to the cooler weather and for some farmers; they have lost their crops due to the flooding that have come to their area.  For others in Europe I understand that you are experiencing extreme heat and drought.  It seems this year that the weather patterns are reversed in the U.S. and Europe, or at least we are having excesses in the wrong direction.  Amidst all that has happened, for those of you in China and Japan reading this entry, you have suffered much by the earthquakes that have caused so much devastation and loss of life.  Our prayers go out for you that God will bring you comfort and help in your loss and recovery. 

There is hope in the storm.

Today after eating breakfast, Will and Abby were looking at some cards and wanting me to play the memory game, (that is matching pairs of cards that were similar,) one to another.  During the game I was concentrating on making sure that all was fair.  Towards the end of the card game Abby noticed that Will and I had the most pairs, and Abby consequently felt bad that she had won so little, (or so I perceived.)  It was Will’s turn next and he won a pair of matching cards.  What happened after that surprised me; he reached over to his newly won cards and gave them to Abby.  Abby thanked Will for his kindness and she in turn gave Will two of her cards that she had just won.  I then realized that Abby was not looking at winning so much as the feeling that she had been left out of the fun.  Will in his kindness did not want his little sister to feel bad, so he gave of his pile of cards to her in response to Abby's sadness.  Abby in turn wanted her brother to be as happy as she now was, and so she gave her two cards to Will in turn.  Both children did not see winning or being fair as important so much as enjoying each other’s company and wanting the other to be happy.  God was teaching me through the eyes and hearts of little children that love and caring was more important than rules and equality.  I was overjoyed by their kindness towards each other, and humbled at the same time.  God chose to use this simple game to teach daddy an important lesson on generosity and selfless acts of love.

Abby in the rain.

 It is easy to look at non-christians and see inequalities by all the wealth, fame and riches that they sometimes possess, and feel perhaps that God has forgotten about us. Sometimes in disillushionment we then turn and go the route that will bring those things we feel are lacking in our lives, and later find that they do not bring the happiness that we thought they would.  We are then saddened by our actions and wonder, “what was I thinking?”  These then are the some of the temptations that Christians go through, that is, wanting what others have.  I see that with children today, wanting things that they think will make them happy.  When they get it, they find the emptiness inside and say to them selves, “if I get that other toy, I will then be satisfied.”  The cycle goes on and on until they find that they have multitude of toys and are still feeling empty inside.  We as adults many times do that; we have to have that new house, car, boat, etc.  When we get it, we regretfully realize that we have one more thing to take care of and less time for the things that matter, God, family and self. 

With all things we should pray when feeling empty, seek God, read his word and ask him to reveal to us the source of our need.  He will never leave us without an answer to our desires.  Isaiah 58:11 Says, that he will satisfy your needs, and Philippians 4:19 relates, that God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. 

One must keep in mind when seeking God that he will give to you those things that will make you happy, not necessarily the things that “you” think will make you contented.  Be open to what God wants for your life; then you will know the peace and happiness that goes beyond those things in this world that are so alluring, and sometimes damaging.

Fall scene at Pickwick Pond south of Winona

One event that comes to mind is that of the children of Israel in the desert.  After  leaving Egypt with Moses, they soon  began to complain for more.   They had a continual discontent, which culminated when getting near to the Promised Land. There the Israelites encountered obstacles that they felt were insurmountable.  Instead of trusting in God, they complained and wanted to go back to Egypt.  They had forgotten how they were treated in that country and even though they were abused and beaten, they figured they had 3 meals a day and thought they were better off than being dead under the feet of the giants they might encounter by going over the Jordan river.  The Israelites looked back to their past rather than trusting God for their deliverance, and so were never allowed to go into the Promised Land that God had waiting for them.  We too sometimes look back at our sinful past and think, “I really had it good then” and at times long for those days.  Satan wants us to believe that our sinful past was indeed better than what we have today.  Some of you might be going through trials and tribulations at present, and see your past as being better than what it is at present.  Seek God, and he will give to you all your needs and grant you the peace that passes all understanding.  Just like the little child who jumps into her father’s arms, she knows that her daddy's strong hands will catch her and not let her fall.  So our father will do this as well, he will never let us fall out of his loving arms if we take this leap of faith and trust him.

Isaiah 8:17  “I will put my trust in him.”

Abby and Will having fun in the rain.

I have to remind myself at times that faith is something that is exercised by will and not by the circumstances I find myself in.

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