The Art of Contentment comes with much training and education. It isn't a fast earned degree, or one you can take online. No, this degree is learned in the streets on the canvas of life. You aren't given your equipment and supplies, nor can you buy them...no, everything must be earned through learning.
I didn't realize I had been enrolled in this Art at a very young age. It must be the same with everyone else I suppose. You don't realize that as you travel through your days you are learning to make choices. How you respond to your enviroment, family dynamics, social status, and even the idea that you do not have the power to even make choices. But you do. We have the power to make choices in every situation. Even if we are unable to control the situation or enviroment, we still have the power to make choices within it.
Let's take for example an old relationship that was almost fatal for me. My current living situation and mindset at the time I made the choice to enter that relationship had been shaped by people and life decisions that were made for me that I could not control. As a very young girl I was not mature enough to realize the consequences of the choice I made. Could I blame the adults in my life for my bad choice? Could I blame all the circumstances around me out of my control for my choice? Sure, or maybe I am to blame.
Is Blame really an excuse? Blame does not release you from the damage, the results, and the memory of your choices. They are ours to live with no matter who we think is to blame, ourselves, or anyone else. I remember my younger days and the feeling I was always walking that fine line of feeling helpless, and being angry. One side leads to becoming a victim and once you fall into that pit, it's a long climb back to the top. The other side is becoming the actor, the perpetrator that determines I will never be hurt by anyone and shoot first just in case.
I guess I have been both in my life. I have allowed the actions and words of others to push me into the victim pit mentality and it opened a path of self destruction. I searched out relationships that I knew would not end well because I didn't feel I was worth being treated with respect, and loved. I hurt people by dragging them into my world of pain and confusion, not even knowing what the hell was going on and who I was. I don't know if you've been there, but I have the feeling a few have.
Some people say Christianity is for the weak minded, and a crutch. That always makes me laugh. I guess you can deny creation around you, the impossible intricate human body and all of it's working parts that we still can't completely understand. If everyone and everything morphed from an organism, then why are we not still morphing? Shouldn't we all be able to fly and breathe underwater by now if evolution were true? The facts don't add up for me. It is not easy being a believer and going against the grain of our current society. It all comes down to choices. We all have an internal compass that guides our choices. We are free to believe how we choose, and our lives will follow that choice.
After a young life of making a continuous string of bad choices, I finally got one right. I chose to believe that God is who He says He is, and that He came to earth as Jesus Christ His son. I choose to believe that He was crucified as a criminal for all the bad choices I had made which I discovered was "sin" and through His death which was my fine, I was set free. The best part about all of that is.... I know have an advocate to help me make better choices. I'm still free to make my own...no doubt. Now, my outlook is different. I'm no longer a victim, or angry, or confused about who I am and what I am here for.
All of that story to say this on my training...my elementary and junior high Art class of contentment taught me how to choose what brush to paint with, that many types of canvases can be used. My high school Art class taught me to learn to wait for instructions and not charge off on a project that may not be mine to do. I learned how to choose carefully and mind the details. Since I graduated to the next level of my Art class, the fun stuff begins. Now that I am in the Master's class it isn't so confining, and so stressful. As I learn now, it's in a restful state...no pushing to perform, no fears of rejection, anger, or abandonment from my instructor. He promises me He will never leave me or forsake me...and He isn't a man who would lie.
Contentment is rest. Simple and plain. Whatever my situation, circumstance, internal or external I have the choice to rest. Rest in the belief and knowledge that my God is true, He is always with me, He has a plan for me. If I allow Him to teach and lead me, I am content. If you have taken the time to read this I hope you will consider choosing Jesus. The world says there are many ways to Heaven and God. I tried a whole lot of them and it wasn't true. Once I chose Jesus, 24 years ago I haven't needed to try anything else! Peace, Out.
