התמלול המלא של When We Think Something Needs to Change

doing what 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:09.470 I thought. they should do. 00:02:09.737 --> 00:02:14.900 It doesn't take long for me to see how easily I can tie my contentment to having 00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:16.953 things go the way I want them to. 00:02:17.295 --> 00:02:22.270 We think we would be more content if we had maybe more money or better health 00:02:22.270 --> 00:02:26.070 or more time or fewer responsibilities or if someone in our life would just 00:02:26.070 --> 00:02:29.600 do something differently. There always seems to be something we think needs 00:02:29.600 --> 00:02:32.207 to change before we can be content. 00:02:32.607 --> 00:02:37.495 And many times we deal with discontentment because of unmet expectations. 00:02:37.704 --> 00:02:41.164 We have an idea in our minds of how we think things should be. 00:02:41.437 --> 00:02:45.250 And when they don't turn out that way, we can find ourselves complaining or 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:47.393 frustrated with what the Lord has given us. 00:02:47.637 --> 00:02:51.610 Listen, I know all the right verses about contentment, and I still find myself 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:53.976 grumbling when things don't go the way that I hoped. 00:02:54.295 --> 00:02:58.991 I'm still learning to trust the Lord and what he gives me. And then in verse 12, Paul says. 00:02:59.700 --> 00:03:02.794 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. 00:03:02.794 --> 00:03:07.144 In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and 00:03:07.144 --> 00:03:09.114 hunger, abundance, and need. 00:03:09.114 --> 00:03:13.404 So Paul knew what it was to have plenty, and he knew what it was to be in need. 00:03:13.404 --> 00:03:19.072 Yet whether he had plenty or whether he was in need, you know what? Christ never changed. 00:03:19.455 --> 00:03:24.039 The next verse is also one we know too well. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 00:03:24.492 --> 00:03:28.574 We hear this verse quoted in all sorts of ways. But in the context here, 00:03:28.574 --> 00:03:33.606 Paul is talking about being content in whatever circumstances the Lord had placed him in. 00:03:33.908 --> 00:03:39.324 We can live independent of our circumstances when we are living dependent on 00:03:39.324 --> 00:03:40.700 Christ. Let me say that again. 00:03:41.042 --> 00:03:44.594 It's a good quote from this one I may have to pull. We can live independent 00:03:44.594 --> 00:03:48.496 of our circumstances when we are living dependent on Christ. 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:53.354 So Paul wasn't saying that he had learned to be self-sufficient or that he could 00:03:53.354 --> 00:03:57.058 just grit his teeth and make it through whatever came his way. 00:03:57.604 --> 00:04:02.736 His sufficiency was in Christ. Christ was the one who gave Paul the strength 00:04:02.974 --> 00:04:05.441 to be content in plenty and in need. 00:04:05.760 --> 00:04:09.604 Okay, I need this reminder, and I'm thinking some of you probably do too,

00:04:09.604 --> 00:04:15.077 because for me, I can so easily find myself just wishing something were different. 00:04:15.764 --> 00:04:19.694 And again, being content, it doesn't mean that we pretend things aren't hard. 00:04:19.694 --> 00:04:21.188 There are hard things, right? 00:04:21.513 --> 00:04:24.869 Paul certainly knew what it was to suffer and to be in need. 00:04:25.124 --> 00:04:29.204 And it doesn't mean, again, it's wrong to ask the Lord to change our circumstances. 00:04:29.204 --> 00:04:33.315 I talked about that a little bit in the previous episode on James a couple weeks ago. 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:38.393 We can bring those desires before the Lord and ask Him to change our circumstances 00:04:38.771 --> 00:04:43.478 while still trusting that He knows what's best for us because He does. 00:04:43.798 --> 00:04:48.639 And I think our unmet expectations can reveal so much about our hearts. 00:04:49.092 --> 00:04:53.197 Basically, we're saying, can I say, am I willing to trust the Lord if He doesn't 00:04:53.197 --> 00:04:54.740 answer the way I hoped He would? 00:04:55.263 --> 00:05:00.327 Romans 8.28 has been such a comfort to me over the years because the Lord is 00:05:00.327 --> 00:05:04.017 working in every circumstance of our lives, all of them, right? 00:05:04.249 --> 00:05:08.068 He's working all things for our good and his glory to those of us in Christ, 00:05:08.364 --> 00:05:10.327 even the ones we would never choose. 00:05:10.623 --> 00:05:15.687 And verse 29 continues there, it reminds us that one of his purposes is to conform 00:05:15.687 --> 00:05:17.142 us to the image of his son. 00:05:17.536 --> 00:05:21.717 I need to remember that he uses even the things that I would never choose to 00:05:21.717 --> 00:05:25.227 do his work in me and make me more like Christ because he knows what he needs 00:05:25.227 --> 00:05:27.079 to do to do that and accomplish that. 00:05:27.398 --> 00:05:30.643 I see this with my expectations of other people too. 00:05:31.258 --> 00:05:36.927 I can easily think that if this person just would respond differently or not 00:05:36.927 --> 00:05:39.269 do those things, then I wouldn't be frustrated. 00:05:39.733 --> 00:05:46.322 But now my contentment, it becomes dependent on another person behaving the way I think they should. 00:05:46.717 --> 00:05:50.026 We can put expectations on our husband, our children, our friends, 00:05:50.606 --> 00:05:54.727 things that they were never meant to carry, looking to them for something that 00:05:54.727 --> 00:05:56.817 can only be found in Christ. 00:05:57.201 --> 00:06:02.413 Hebrews 13.5 tells us to be content with what you have, and then gives us the reason. 00:06:02.768 --> 00:06:06.628 For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. 00:06:07.052 --> 00:06:12.398 What a comfort that is to remember that we have him always. As a believer, 00:06:12.648 --> 00:06:16.842 he's holding us fast. He will never leave us or forsake us. 00:06:17.632 --> 00:06:23.054 So maybe it would be helpful to ask ourselves where discontentment has been showing up in our lives. 00:06:23.356 --> 00:06:27.327 You know, what maybe have we been complaining about or what do we think needs 00:06:27.327 --> 00:06:29.416 to change before we can be content? 00:06:30.317 --> 00:06:34.732 What? Are we holding tightly to an expectation of how we think something should 00:06:34.732 --> 00:06:39.471 go? Or is my contentment, is it dependent on someone else changing? 00:06:39.947 --> 00:06:45.398 These are questions I need to ask myself. And when the Lord shows us those places, 00:06:45.746 --> 00:06:47.142 we can bring them before Him. 00:06:47.142 --> 00:06:51.532 We can confess our grumbling and our discontentment, and we can thank Him for 00:06:51.532 --> 00:06:55.822 all the many ways He has already cared for us and ask Him to help us trust His 00:06:55.822 --> 00:06:57.699 good providence in our lives. 00:06:58.111 --> 00:07:02.822 And just like the Apostle Paul, we are all still learning to be content in whatever 00:07:02.822 --> 00:07:04.672 circumstances the Lord gives us, right? 00:07:04.672 --> 00:07:09.642 And I'm so grateful that our good God, He patiently teaches us as we walk with 00:07:09.642 --> 00:07:14.433 Him and continues to remind us that Jesus is enough for whatever He calls us to. 00:07:14.735 --> 00:07:20.852 So whatever our needs today, I pray that we trust fully in the sufficiency of Christ. 00:07:21.192 --> 00:07:25.792 There is where we will find contentment for our souls. And if you want to read 00:07:25.792 --> 00:07:30.432 a little more on this, I'll link an older post I have on learning contentment in the show notes. 00:07:30.838 --> 00:07:34.442 This is also something I spend more time in in Chapter 8 of my book, 00:07:34.442 --> 00:07:38.562 Homemaking Matters, where I talk about finding peace over perfection and some 00:07:38.562 --> 00:07:42.674 of the expectations that we can place on ourselves or our homes or the people around us. 00:07:43.011 --> 00:07:45.492 I'll leave all that information about the book in the show notes, 00:07:45.492 --> 00:07:49.672 too. So I'm so thankful for you being here with me today. I'm always grateful 00:07:49.672 --> 00:07:52.798 for time that we get to spend together in CusWord. 00:07:53.211 --> 00:07:57.837 And my friend, we know always that Jesus truly is enough. 00:07:58.127 --> 00:08:02.464 I'm so grateful for you. And I do pray you have a very blessed week, my dear friend.