Contentment

It was three or four years ago when I bought the book Calm my Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. It had been highly recommended to me and so I was interested. I did not necessarily feel anxious or feel that I was discontented but nonetheless I wanted to try it. After looking at the table of contents ( content to be me, content with circumstances, trusting God with the what ifs and if onlys) I knew I needed this book and since it has become one of my favorites.

It was hard to get past the beginning pages. She talked about a friend who had found her mother's journal. In it she discovered her mother's key to contentment. Her mother had worked with the pygmies in Africa for fifty-two years. This is what it said:

*Never allow yourself to complain about anything-not even the weather
*Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else
*Never compare your lot with another's
*Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise
*Never dwell on tomorrow-remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours

Wow! Try to apply these for even one day.

There are so many treasures in this book but I want to share a couple of highlights.
* "He infuses contentment into us through his Word"
*"Contentment comes from a proper relationship to God, not from a response to the circumstances. Our what ifs will either drive us to God and faith or they will drive us to worry and dependence on self"
*"Only as our hearts are fixed on our Sovereign, Loving Lord can we be at peace in the midst of the What ifs. We can only trust God when our focus is on Him and not on our circumstances"
* "Our anxiety should be used as a springboard to pray specifically"

There are so many wonderful things in this book and I pray for the grace to apply them in my life.