Steps to contentment: Step 5 – Share

For the last four weeks we have studied contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you. We have been comparing contentment to a lush, green garden. As we wrap up our study on contentment, let’s review the necessary steps in the care of our garden.

In week 1, we learned to weed out distraction by holding fast in faith to God, the master gardener. In week 2, we understood the need to protect our valuable time with God. In week 3, we remembered to water our thirsty gardens by tapping into the living waters offered through Jesus. And last week, week 4, we discovered that contentment is not really about our happiness, our comfortableness, or our desires being fulfilled. Instead, contentment is simply about being in the center of God’s will. In this last week, we will address the purpose of your garden of contentment.

Reading for today: John 15:1-17

The pursuit of contentment must never be confused with the pursuit of happiness or the pursuit of positivism. While happiness and positivism are often welcome side effects of contentment, the pursuit of contentment is more altruistic than you may have originally thought.

Rick’s cucumbers – photo taken by Rick

My favorite harvest-time question to hear is: “Do you want some of our bounty?” My friends, Rick and Chris, have a beautiful, backyard vegetable garden and fruit orchard, and they have always offered to share their harvest surplus. But surplus from their garden is never one or two tomatoes and a lone cucumber. Their surplus borders on farmers’ market quantities. Trays of tomatoes, grocery bags of zucchini and summer squash, and buckets full of cucumbers. My family and I eat as much as we can, and then I freeze or process whatever we can’t finish. Currently, there are 9 jars if pickles in the refrigerator. And in the freezer, I have 8 bags of shredded zucchini and 2 quarts of roasted tomato sauce.

Rick’s tomatoes- photo taken by Rick

I have, because they share.

Why are my garden and its fruit so important? Fruit is a sign of a healthy, thriving garden. A healthy, fruitful, thriving garden means we are connected to the Master Gardener and His Son is at the center of our garden. We are content. Our desires match His desires. And when our desires match God’s desires, we understand that what God desires most is that all people would come to know Him. How do people come to know Him and begin to grow their own gardens of contentment? Through the shared seeds of your fruit.

We are not in the business of secret gardens. What good is a healthy, bursting garden, if it is not seen or shared with others? Gardens are meant to bloom, to be fruitful, and ultimately to serve their gardener. What better way to serve the Master Gardener, then to use our fruits to help grow the gardens of others.

Step 5 in the pursuit of contentment: Share your fruit so that others may grow.

Dear God our Master Gardner, It is by Your power and for Your glory that we are content. Grow our gardens of contentment so that we may bear fruit and share our joy with others. Amen.

Day 2 – 1 Timothy 2:3-4; John 6:40

Day 3 – Galatians 5:22-25 (the Message)

Day 4 – Psalm 1:1-3

Day 5 – Isaiah 58:11; Jeremiah 31:12-14

 

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Steps to contentment: Step 4 – Center

Welcome to week 4 in our study on contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you.

Read Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17; 3:1-24 and Matthew 26:36-42

There were two gardens. In the first garden, everything was perfect. God had planted the garden. The plants were lush and filled with fruit. In the center of the garden grew the tree of life. A couple lived there. They trusted God and were content and satisfied, having everything they needed.

The second garden, on the other hand, was dark and dangerous. Although familiar, it was not a happy place that night. In the center of this garden a distressed man lay praying fervently for help to the God he, too, trusted. This isn’t what I want to do. This doesn’t feel good to me. I am not happy about this. Please, please take it away, Lord. He had found himself in that garden because he had come to restore the tree of life that had been lost to the couple in the first garden.

You see, they had stepped out of the master Gardner’s will. And as a horrible consequence, their rebellion brought sin, death, and sadness into a once perfect garden. Ever since that fateful day, we have been chasing down the peace and contentment that was lost.

But God did not abandon that first couple or us. He promised a Savior. One who would become for us the new tree of life.

In the midst of this unhappy, imperfect garden, a sorrowful Jesus taught us one of the most important steps in our path toward contentment. He finished his earnest prayer by saying, Not my will, but Yours be done. Jesus stood in that dark, scary garden and centered himself on God’s will. He completely trusted God. Even though it meant taking on all the sin, all the death, and all the sadness of this world.

Contentment has never really been about our happiness, our comfortableness, or our desires being fulfilled. Contentment is simply about being in the center of God’s will.

The only time we should feel discontent, is when we are in a situation that is pulling us away from God’s will. And in those dark moments, cry out to God, like Jesus did in the garden. And then remember that Jesus is for us the new tree of life at the very center of God’s garden. Center your garden on Him.

Step 4 in the pursuit of contentment: Center your garden on God’s will.

Dear Lord, Let Your will be done always and bring me into the center of Your will. Make me content. Amen.

This week, let’s read about what it looks like to center yourself on God’s will.

Day 2 – 1 John 2:16-17; Matthew 6:10

Day 3 – Proverbs 3:5-6; James 1:5

Day 4 – John 10:7-11; Hebrews 13:20-21

Day 5 –  1 Timothy 2:4-6; Proverbs 13:12; Revelation 22:14

Next week we will conclude our study on contentment by talking about the harvest!

 

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Steps to contentment: Step 3 – Water

Welcome to week 3 in our study on contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you.

If contentment is a lush garden, then being and staying content is a constant battle for turf. Gardening is not simply planting and enjoying. While those are aspects of a good garden, successful gardening requires constant nutrition.

Reading for this week: John 4:3-26; 39-42

In terms of gardening, the nutrition formula for growth is pretty basic: soil, sun, air, and water. And of those 4 basics, I really only have to take care of one – water. The sun, the soil, and the air are not necessarily in my department. So maintenance of my precious garden shouldn’t be that hard. Get a bucket or find the hose and water those plants. But like the woman at the well, it’s the continuous need to come back for water that can get monotonous and wearisome (v.15).

In the spring, my momentum is going. I am happy to finally be outdoors. I am motivated with visions of red tomatoes and full baskets of flowers. But then after awhile, I get a little bored and start skipping the only job I have – the watering.

Unfortunately, my inconsistent watering inevitably leads to fewer tomatoes. And it makes other vegetables – like my cucumbers and lettuce – taste bitter. My flowers are dried out. My herbs are limp and thirsty. And the life my garden had, slowly dies. There is nothing more devastating then coming to the end of a growing season only to realize I have wasted it.

That’s why I am very interested in installing a drip irrigation system. I have no idea how to do that, but with my handy husband and pinterest at my disposal, I think we can come up with something. Knowing my plants could continuously get exactly the right amount of water could make gardening so much easier and more productive.

Trying to maintain contentment or happiness on my own is like having to go out looking for water sources everyday. It may bring temporary contentment, but I need to keep going out for more to maintain that contentment. And when I can’t find a good source or I stop looking, I inevitably become dry and bitter and unproductive. Contentment is no longer within my reach.

That’s the amazing thing about what Jesus offers us through the Holy Spirit. It’s like a drip irrigation system for my soul. It is a truer, more consistent source of watering that I can tap into daily. And as Jesus told the woman at the well, with the water that Jesus offers, it’s like a spring welling up to eternal life, and I will never be thirsty again.

It’s time to water.

Step 3 in the pursuit of contentment: Water your garden by tapping into the only everlasting water source.

Dear Lord, I am constantly thirsty for something. But I spend a lot of valuable time looking for water from other sources. Help me to tap into Your everlasting water. Quench my thirst and bring me contentment. Amen.

This week, let’s read about those deep waters that God offers through His Spirit.

Day 2 – Psalm 1:1-3

Day 3 – Jeremiah 17:7-8

Day 4 – John 7:37-38

Day 5 – John 6:35-40

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Steps to contentment: Step 2 – Protect

Welcome to week 2 in our study on contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you.

Contentment is what we want, but we cannot have contentment without faith. If contentment is that lush, green, fruitful garden, then discontentment is anything that endangers the growth of the garden.

Reading for this week: Luke 10:38-42

Over the summer, the kids and I weeded our overgrown yard for about 20 minutes a day. Even though 20 minutes doesn’t clear much, I have noticed that over time, we have slowly begun to open up the landscape to allow for my husband’s green-thumb creativity. It’s as if the yard finally has some room to breathe.

However, a new problem has made an appearance. Deer. They walk around the yard like they own it, eating anything that looks good. My superbells are chewed down; my new pineberries (a strawberry cultivar that tastes like pineapple) look like thick blades of sporadic grass. As we continue to develop our garden, we now have to research deer resistant plants and build deer fencing around our new vegetable garden. We need to protect what’s growing.

Being content is also a constant battle for turf. The story for today is one of our first encounters with Mary and Martha, two friends of Jesus. Both women are serving Jesus in the story. One is sitting and listening. The other is prepping a meal. I can relate to both women. However, I struggle with this passage because Martha’s service gets a bad rap. When Jesus denies Martha’s plea for help in the kitchen, it seems unfair. My gut response is to say, “Do you know what it takes to serve 13 plus hungry men? Good luck feeding those guys.”

 

Painting by He Qi

There are two problems with Martha’s service, though. The first, Luke says, “Martha was distracted.” And the second, Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion and it will not be taken from her.” I love the firmness of Jesus’s response. It will not be taken from her. He is protecting Mary. But he is also protecting Martha from the dangerous assumption that service to God is more important than time with God.

Contentment is only possible with time with God. You can work and work and work in your garden, but if you haven’t spent time protecting it, if you haven’t spent time with the Master Gardener, you will never experience your garden of contentment.

In your pursuit of contentment, you need that valuable time with Him. And that time needs to be protected. Protected from distraction. Protected from worry. Protected from anxiety. And even protected from service. The kind of service that distracts from the very One who is to be served.

Step 2 in the pursuit of contentment: Protect your garden by spending time with the Master Gardener.

Dear Lord, I forget to spend time with You. Please forgive me. Never let my service to You replace spending time with You. Help me to encourage others to spend time with You. Grow my garden of contentment. Amen.

This week, let’s read about the blessings of spending time with God. As you read Day 2 – Psalm 23, take confidence in the fact that when the Lord is your shepherd, when you focus on Him, you realize that you have everything you need. And when you know you have everything you need, that is the beginning of contentment.

Day 2 – Psalm 23

Day 3 – Psalm 37:3-7

Day 4 – Ephesians 3:14-21

Day 5 – Matthew 6:19-21; 25-33

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Steps to Contentment: Step 1 – Weed

A friend of mine asked if I could write on the subject of contentment. (I do take requests!) So for the next few weeks, we will study the steps to contentment through the eyes of scripture.

Reading for this week: Luke 8:4-15

We recently bought our first home. As garden and landscaping enthusiasts, my husband and I have big plans to turn our overgrown yard into a small, botanical oasis. While there is a lot of potential, the yard has been neglected for years.

Think of contentment as lush, green, fruitful landscaping. Contentment is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you. Contentment is what we want, but before we can even begin to draw up the landscaping plans, we have an unbelievable amount of rocks, thorns, thistle bushes, and weeds to deal with.

In the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8), there are four basic responses to God: reject, forget, become distracted, or believe. Only in the last response lies the path to contentment. But even though I am a believer, I struggle with being content.

When I look more closely at the third response – becoming distracted – I see my problem. “They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).

In other words, I wholeheartedly believe God and his love for me, but sometimes I mistakenly equate being content with experiencing the good life. I base contentment on whether or not I feel that life is good. And if the good life is endangered, missing, or lacking, if it is without health or without riches or without excitement, if it becomes monotonous, unforgiving, or difficult, I panic. In my distraction and worry, the threatening thorns, weeds, and rocks begin to take hold once again and jeopardize not only the growth of my garden, but also the very life of the garden.

So how do we grow our gardens? The last verse of our reading gives us a landscaping plan. “As for that in the good soil, they are those who hearing the word, hold fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Hear the word, hold fast to God, and grow your garden with patience.

Step 1 in the pursuit of contentment: Weed out distraction by holding fast to God, your master gardener.

Dear Lord, Focus my heart and mind on You. Make me hold fast to You so I am not distracted by the cares of this world. Make me content in all circumstances. Amen.

Continue reading these well-known passages about contentment this week.

Day 2 – Philippians 4:11-13

Day 3 – 1 Timothy 6:6-12

Day 4 – Hebrews 13:5-6

Day 5 – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

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