Some People Have to Learn the Hard Way

Somehow I skipped doing chapter 7, so here is chapter 7 notes/thoughts that I took when I read the chapter and a little summary. 

We don't wake up one day and are content in everything in our lives. We have to learn to be content and it takes times. And for me, time can be my worst enemy. I say I want it now and I don't want for it but as God has said good things come to those who wait. God is there to help us learn to be content with our lives and to find happiness in Him. God uses the circumstances in our lives to teach us contentment. We should evaluate our lives and look in the different areas to see where God is working and What He is communicating to us that we need to be more content in. It's not an easy thing to accept but with God's help it can be done.

"It's not enough for us to just take our circumstances, like we're taking a punch in the face. We won't learn true, blessed contentment if we grit our teeth and kick our way through life. Life isn't an Iron Man competition. Instead our circumstances should drive us to God and cause us to cry out for the strength to be content." I never really thought about it this way. Our circumstances that are hard on/for us are suppose to bring us closer to God and His grace and are not meant to be taken care by ourselves.

We tend to complain and mutter about our poor circumstances, but we should just go to God with them and we can find contentment in Him. The ultimate question is who do you run to when the horrible circumstances come into your life? Do you immediately turn to God? or do you look for comfort and relief other places? I know for me, I often look elsewhere first and then to God. This is a reminder to me that my first response needs to be God because He is truly the only one who can help us through it.

One question that stuck out to me was how do I view my circumstances? Am I looking at them as a blessing and a way to grow closer to God or am I just complaining and blaming God? I need to learn contentment and to lean on God's grace and His sufficiency for my life. God wants the best for me and will help me if I simply ask. I know recently I have been asking God for direction and contentment as to where I am in my life and taking it day by day, but trying to trust in His will and lean solely on Him. This is not easy but it helps to know God is always on my side and always will be because I am one of His children.

2 Corinthians 12:9 
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

In Search of the Secret

"True contentment is found in a Person. It's not found in getting what we want or in having difficulty removed from our lives. Contentment isn't the result of the absence of pain or the presence of material blessing. It's found in Jesus Christ. Period. Without Christ we can never be truly content, regardless of the blessings that surround us. And with Christ we can be content in the midst of every circumstance."
Wow. If you just take time for this quote to sink it...it is amazing to think that all we need is to trust and believe in Jesus Christ and we can find true contentment in Him. Nothing else, just Him!

The word joyful was used in this chapter and I looked up the definition to see what it actually meant. Joyful: Feeling, causing, or indicating joy. And if you look at the definition of just Joy: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires, the expression or exhibition of such emotion, a state of happiness or felicity, a source or cause of delight. It's amazing to think that this little three letter word can mean so much to a person and how we view this word can being meaning to our lives and our circumstance. 

Different circumstances come into our lives whether good or bad and even though we are not joyful and happy with them such as laughing or smiling, we need to find joy in Christ that He is there and will help us through anything. 

Romans 8: 31-32 "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" These verses are such an encouragement not matter where you're at in life. It is saying that nothing is to big for God and we should put our trust in Him. 

God gives us strength in His promises. He promises in Scripture to meet our most basic needs in life and to so so much more. If  we are His children, He has a plan for our lives. Even though we may not see it or understand it, God has it all under control and knows what is best for us. I know personally I tend to forget this and try to "fix" what I think is wrong or needs to get better with my life. Sometimes, I just need to take a step back from being all about what I want and see what God wants for me in my life. This has been a struggle for me, especially if i see certain things that should be happening- such as a relationship or moving out or what my future holds. I am reminded not to worry and keep my focus on God because that is what truly matters in life- is my walk with the Lord. 

This next quote just spoke to me, and is so true and is a great reminder of how we need to view our circumstances and to remember the simple truth- God is in control and has the strength that we need to put our trust in!
     "A battles lies before us. Will we honor God by being content in all circumstances, or will we grumble and mope and murmur? Will we fight against the discontentment in our hearts, or will we be bullied and beaten by our own desires? If the outcome of the battle hinged on our strength, all hope would be lost. But it doesn't. Christ is our strength, and in him we really can be content in all circumstances. There is enough strength, joy, and life in Christ for us to be content. We simple need to draw upon that strength."

Bloody Contentment

Here are several thoughts from the sixth chapter of The Greener Grass Conspiracy. 

In the Old Testament it was common for the punishment of idol worship was death- but today we worship idols all the time whether it is the small things in life such as relaxation or bigger things. The only reason we aren’t put to death for these is completely based on God’s forgiveness. The great exchange was Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and taking our place. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

It’s amazing to think that we deserve punishment and wrath for what we do/did and all God gives us is forgiveness. 

When we trust in Christ, we are given many things. The first being fellowship with God. Because our sins are forgiven we can have communication with God and talk with Him freely. In order to find contentment we need to spend a lot of time talking and spending time with God. We need to have that constant communication and relationship with God. Whether it be praying or reading more of God’s Word and meditating on it. Another benefit is that we are children of God. God saves us from our sins and adopts us like his own children. 

1 John 3:1” See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” Zephaniah 3:17” The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness;  he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” God is so glad for us to be his children. God’s love for us is amazing and we should show our love back to Him. 

Psalm 36:7 “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” God is there was a protector for us- for us to find comfort in Him.

Matthew 6: 26 “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” God is there to meet our needs for us—He cared enough to meet what we need in our life. 

A Final benefit is that God gives us eternal life. Jesus promises eternal life for those who trust and believe in Him. John 4:14 tells us so “…but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become n him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

We may have trouble or pain or sorrows in this world but that is all we will have because if we are saved, we have heaven to look forward to where there will be no pain or sorrow. 

“The gospel of Christ is the fountainhead of contentment in the gospel we have access to infinite blessings.” This is a basic reminder to me that I need to put Christ and His Word at the center of my life and to trust Him completely. 

When we complain and are discontent with our lives we are essentially saying that God isn’t good enough alone for us. We tend to think that God and something else will solve the problem but in reality Christ is all we will ever need!

The King's Madness

In the fifth chapter of The Greener Grass Conspiracy, the author refers to several lies in our life that we need to deal with. When we have discontentment in our lives it starts with all the sinful lies that we believe about ourselves, about God, the world, and anything else. The important thing to learn is to be able to recognize these lies as we encounter them.

There were several lies mentioned in this chapter.
LIE: God is withholding from me.
     Many times we ask God questions about why can't this happen to me or why can't I move up higher in the world of questions like this. When we don't get what we want, we blame God for withholding the good things from us. But in reality, God sent the greatest gift for us- His son, Jesus Christ. He gave us the best He had and didn't hold it back and not send anyone/thing to help us with our sin nature. He gave the best gift of all!

LIE: God owes me.
     Many times we think we are giving God things by serving Him in different ministries and come to the belief that somehow God owes us for that service. It's really the other way around- God is the creator of everything- and that including me and you- and He has power over us and we are the ones that owe Him. God doesn't owe us but He does give rewards when His servants obey Him.
Matthew 6:3-4 "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

LIE: If I get it, I'll be happy.
     So many times we think that if I just get what I want I won't complain anymore or ask for anything else. This is not true- "Because God loves us and wants us to find our satisfaction in Him, he won't allow us to be satisfies." I find myself thinking like this at times "if only...or if this happens...then I'll be happy" and true happiness doesn't come through things or through people but only from Jesus.

LIE: I know what's best for me.
     We need to realize that we are not the leader/ruler of our life. God is! God is our leader and will direct our life for us because He knows what the best for us is. David got it right in Psalm 23: 2-3 "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." If God let us lead our own lives, then who knows where we would end up at. I'm very thankful that God is in control of my life and is the leader of it. I just need to remember to let Him have the control of my life and stop telling him how to rule my life or what I "need". He is my heavenly Father and He already knows what I need so why try to counteract Him.