Whatever... (Part 1)

I've been wallowing in discontent. It makes me cringe to even type those words, but it's the truth. I could give you many reasons for my discontent and inward grumbling and complaining, but I'm sure you have plenty of your own reasons to relate. It's especially easy to become discontent during this weird time of isolation and then seeing "half-faces" that try to avoid each other and us when we are in public. 

A couple weeks ago our small women's group met again for the first time since March. What a joy to be together! We sat outside under the trees with proper distance between us and discussed how God would have us respond to the current situation in our country and the world. Using the very familiar passage of 2 Chronicles 7:14 as a guide, we came to the conclusion that we had to humble ourselves and repent of our individual sin first plus keep our focus on God and His word.  After that, we are in a better position to pray for our nation, leaders, and those who do not know the saving grace of Jesus. 

2 Chronicles 7:13 & 14
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,

or command the locust to devour the land, 
or send pestilence among my people, 
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, 
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, 
then I will hear from heaven 
and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  

As we talked about the above, one of the ladies brought our attention to verse 13. As a farming community, the lack of rain over the past weeks has been so discouraging. The heavens certainly were "shut up". (Praise God we had some rain the past 2 days!)  Then we see on the news that other countries are being plagued by "locusts" and we feel God's power in a very uncomfortable way. Is He trying to get our attention? 

As we were discussing this, I acknowledged that inwardly I was wallowing in discontent. The next day I decided to look up Scripture about contentment. I picked one, Philippians 4:11b to focus on for a day or two "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances", but God had bigger plans in mind. The next day I decided to read the entire chapter to get the full context of this verse because part "a" of this verse says "I am not saying this because I am in need...". Not saying what? As I read, the full force of the 4th chapter of Philippians spoke directly to my situation and that of our world. It not only told me to be content, but how to do it. This chapter is jam packed with great words of advice and encouragement. Of course, I've read this chapter many times before, but all of a sudden the richness within these few verses was very apparent. 

I've never been very good at memorizing Scripture, but I decided to try to memorize this entire chapter. There are so many parts of it that I almost know by heart already and had never realized they were all in this chapter. It was so exciting for me! Here's the main points that stood out:

1. Stand firm in the Lord
2. Rejoice in the Lord always.
3. Do not be anxious
4. Pray with thankfulness
5. God's peace will guard my heart & mind
6. Here's what to think about....whatever is: true, pure, etc.
7. Content whatever the circumstances
8. I can do it because He strengthens me
9. God will meet every need
10. All glory to God forever!

The real God-incident was this past Monday. I was working around in the kitchen and decided to listen to a podcast. I really like the preaching of David Platt, so went to the Radical app on my phone and chose his latest sermon to listen to. Guess what? He and the other pastor at his church are doing a series on Philippians and I just happened to click on a sermon covering a portion of Chapter 4. He even commented that some in his church are attempting to memorize the entire chapter! It thrilled my heart that God had orchestrated all of this for my edification and delight! I listened and smiled with a full heart at the goodness of God. 

It's so easy to get caught up in myself and my little world. Without even realizing it, I become the center of my universe and it quickly starts to implode into misery and discontent. It seems to me that many in our nation and world have the same problem which causes a lot of the problems we're seeing now. 

As I work through this chapter, I plan to share what I am gleaning with you in the hopes that it will help you too. In the meantime,  read Philippians 4 and Stand Firm in the Lord!

Philippians 4:1

"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, 

my joy and crown, that is how you should 

stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!"