I love my life. I really do. I’m so deeply grateful for my husband’s love; for the opportunity to be his wife; for the wisdom God has given us so far regarding marriage, children, and life-in-general; for our children; for the ability to be home learning about motherhood, patience, and attention to detail.
Sometimes I fear that if I admit that out loud, God will *find out* and cause some terrible tragedy to befall us. Or, sometimes I feel like I should apologize to other people that I genuinely feel fulfilled and joyful and content. How did I develop these subconscious fears? Perhaps from living in a culture in which it’s not cool to be content; it’s not culturally savvy to rejoice over life. I find that even the Church may deify poverty, misery, agitation, and confusion while spurning abundance, joy, simple wisdom, and clarity. Yes, Jesus taught us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…” But, we cannot focus so intently on the first half of each statement and not revel in – and become – the promised blessing. If we do, we’re missing the whole point of the gospel.
God is the source of all blessings. Righteousness, joy and contentment are all gifts – not shallow and embarrassing flaws – from Him. I’m not referring to the popular and hollow “prosperity gospel,” but about the Kingdom of Heaven in which Love begets obedience, obedience begets love, love begets peace, and peace begets contentment… in which Christians walk around as comforted and content children of the King. God is glorified when we revel in His love for us. He is exalted when, without fear, we give thanks to Him for every wonderful gift He has bestowed on us.
“The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!” Psalm 126:3
Comments
2 responses to “Okay to Be Thrilled”
There is happy, and then there is the joy of the Lord – one doesn’t change when your circumstances do, I think it’s because you know that truth, that you have such fulfillment inside!
begets.-good word
I SOOOOOOO agree with Jan! as i was reading, i was going to write the same thing she did! I just finished reading ….
A step further by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Estes. Fab..i tell ya. Joni dives into this topic and is soo amazing
yes …just know when we do ” content and fullfilled” it is a false feeling. WE SHOULD NEVER FEEL CONTENT AND FULLFILLED HERE! This is so not our home! This is only a glimps of heaven. A “blue print” if you will.
I will wait and enjoy this world,…but I cannot wait till heaven! Wooo!
Paul says to run as if there is only one prize! To run a race means being pushed and in hope for something at the end. If you were satisfied with yourself in the middle of the race, there would no point…and that prize must not be worth much to ya.
“life to the full ” means knowing the truth.
If I sound wrong in my writing, I know I could explaine better in person. we will talk. I call ya lar and we will have a nice long coversation. J/K…..lol