Beauty, warmth, passion, laughter, smiles, calm...
These are what I crave in life. As anyone who knows me can confirm, I am frequently extremely stressed due to my work load and my perfectionist tendencies. Despite, or perhaps as a result of this, I have found that I deeply desire the simple pleasures of life and that feeling of contentment that comes from being at peace with one's circumstances and happy with one's self. In the rare moments when this feeling washes over me, I feel my whole being relax as I smile just for the sake of smiling. I hesitate to call this feeling "happiness," because happiness is such a fickle fellow. Rather, it is contentment - a feeling that does not require a certain set of circumstances, but is one of the few emotions that adapts to any environment, instead of changing its environment to prosper. I have experienced enough of life to understand that happiness comes and goes and, as such, if you are ruled by it, you are likely to be miserable as or more often than you are happy. However, the skill of learning to be content no matter the circumstances can allow you to see the beauty and warmth in life as it appears and to deal with the cold and the pain. I desire contentment rather than happiness. I do not know how the rest of my life is going to be or what events will take place, but I would like to have the grace to face all of them with a spirit of peace and even joy - a joy in the knowledge that, even in a life of tragic beauty, there is pleasure and wonder.
Paul's benediction to the believers in Rome is this:
ReplyDelete"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 15:13)
Joy, peace, and hope. What a wonderful promise! I was doing a keyword search of the word 'joy' in the Bible, and there are countless passages that tell us to seek joy and that we will find joy in God. And I'm left to wonder how much joy I deprive myself of by focusing on myself and my circumstances, rather than on God.
Thanks, Melissa. :)
Amen, Janette.
Delete"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Phil 4:11-13)
ReplyDeleteWhenever I think of contentment, I think of this verse. Happiness, as you so aptly wrote, is transient, but joy comes not from the circumstances of our lives which are in my experience often chaotic and uncertain, but rather in knowing that God is working out His purpose in our lives through those circumstances. In that we can be at peace.