“For the sake of Christ, then, I am CONTENT with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10
Would I be CONTENT with these things? I am not wondering, as I normally do, whether or not I would accept these things, but would I really be CONTENT with them?
The true heart of reliance on God’s strength is far more than accepting these things, but is truly content in and through them.
That’s a good question. I’ve recently realized there is so much about myself that I don’t like, and I’ve been praying for God to change them or help me focus on Him more and those things less. Not once have I thought that maybe He wants to use those things about me…
I hear ya! I think of that list, my weaknesses are the hardest to be content in and through.
It’s so difficult to remember in my day to day life but when I look at myself and my life as a fact, and I remove opinion or selfishness I am left with only one thing, contentment. I think that is the perfect word for what I feel happens when we “stare in the mirror” long enough. You stop seeing your own flaws or beauty. You just see you and your fine with it. It’s as if you are above the things that elate you and hinder you. All of it is beautiful in its simplicity and realness, but each moment is part of a whole that makes up our lives and it can be good or bad, but most of all it’s alive, and I am happy about all of the puzzles and questions and doubt as much as I am about anything else. The trouble is remembering it all of the time.
It is almost as though when (or if) you remove all comparisons, you are left with contentment.
I’ve found in my own life, that it is hardest to be content with myself when I am content with my circumstances. When life is rough and uncertain I can look at myself and see how my perceived faults and weaknesses can be made into strengths. When life is comfortable is when I look at my life and sometimes wonder why I am the way that I am. Underneath there is always the knowledge that God made me with the weaknesses I have for a particular purpose, but I get far more frustrated with myself when life is calm.
I definitely know what you’re saying. In my most comfortable moments, my mind is its most idle and prone to wander; rarely a good circumstance for a brain and heart such as mine. In my most comfortable times, I am more prone to feel stuck and anxious, which is ultimately a state of discontent.