DAY 4: Disconnecting from Discontent

There's that thing in everyone's life that makes you blissfully happy. There are moments that are easy to point to and say, "I was excited" or "That made me smile"--those "Facebook" moments that we're all proud of where there's an obvious sense of euphoria and excitement about life and/or it's events. And, as I drove home from one such moment today, I reflected on the day that I had with a silly smile on my face.

You see, we spent the day exploring this part of Madagascar. How many people get to say that?! We had spent the day having a cultural tour that left me in a state of sweet exhaustion and somewhat overwhelmed. We learned to do this natural paper art with dried flowers, cooked (and ate) traditional Malagasy snacks, participated in rice farming from field to plate, became basket weavers, and met some of the most beautiful people along the way. Yep...it was definitely worthy of 140 characters of tweeting.

But what struck me the most as we interacted with the people we met was something intangible. Looking at the smile of the fisherman in the village we visited with whose home on stilts was creatively arranged to have 3 "rooms" for he, his wife and child or the silent pride in the eyes of the rice farming woman raising 5 children with a husband who works a long distance from home and she sees only once a month or the elder/shepherdess of the church whose 2-part home houses a total of 17 people (near and extended family) I was struck. I can make no suppositions about their happiness and imagine that life has not always been kind to/easy for any of them, but I could discern that they were at peace and CONTENT. They were proud of their families, proud of their traditions, eager to share. They welcomed us with such grace and shared their lives as though they were something precious...because they are.

It is not to say that they don't strive for more. Being content has nothing to do with that 140-character blissful happiness. The definitions of contentedness speak of satisfaction, not stagnation. You could see that they strive for more by the way that they worked diligently to provide for their families and the communities around them. But you could also see that they possessed that very thing that Paul boasts about. Paul who spent much of the time in the bible imprisoned said that he had learned to be content in whatever state he was in (Philippians 4:11).

So many people would notice the poverty of the places we saw, but what I saw most was the peace. You can't bottle that. You can't sell it. You can't pay for it. Peace is priceless. Most of us have more than they have, yet we spend so much time just missing that space of contentment and peace as we search for all of the material trappings of life. In our desire to not stagnate, we don't just strive but we lust after those things that we desire. It's a dangerous yet fine tightrope that many of us fail to stay on--falling because of dissatisfaction and discontent. We allow discontent to sour our moods to make enjoyment of even the little things in life like playing in the mud or splashing like children in a pond virtually impossible.

Today's trip was a reminder to me that I pass along to you: We are privileged beyond measure. Not because of any things we may possess beyond others. No. Our privilege lies in the fact that we have the key to disconnecting the power that discontent has on our lives permanently if we so choose. Paul finishes his famous thought on contentedness with a well-known verse that I think we fail to fully grasp. He says, "In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:12b-13) You have a choice. You can choose to be strengthened and charged in the satisfaction and peace that comes from the power of Christ, or you can choose to be drained by discontent. You can choose your focus. You can choose to give voice to the places of joy in your life and silence discontent. You can choose to meditate on what you lack and where your life is missing something or you can find strength and satisfaction in the small things that remind you that life is good. Be encouraged today to make the decision to disconnect from discontent and plug into small joys and underlying peace that comes with being content.

Lord, help us today to choose you in our focus. Help us to meditate on those small good things that bring us joy and peace. Help us disconnect from the power that discontent has on our lives. Help us to choose contentment in this day. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Andrea