Delight

  26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]? https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A+26-27&version=NIV

I love to watch birds. In fact when visiting relatives in SD this summer, I saw their  bird feeder surrounded by a variety of  beautiful colors and fantastic sounds different than our feathered friends in Duluth. I sat at the dining table  staring out the glass door,  listening, delighting, being blessed in the gifts God was sharing with me.

Worry steals contentment. Ponder slightly on things you allow your mind to worrying about.  Worrying how all the jobs needing to be  finished  will be done completely and perfectly in the allotted time. Worrying what to do with ALL the stuff when downsizing.  What to keep, or should the item go to Goodwill? Or possibly the dump. What if I throw away the item that will later be yelled for to complete a project?   🙁

Granted, in the scheme of life, these are trivial worries.  If I cannot  WALK THROUGH THE SHADOW OF DEATH holding God’s hand in these rather small challenges of my life. seeking His Peace and Contentment, there is no way I am going to be able to handle a larger item knowing His Fullness and Grace.

walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6&version=MSG

Big Worries or little worries-each will take your eyes , my eyes off God’s gentle leading.  Our mind will directly and solely uncomfortably stay on the problem.

Contentment was the topic these last few Sundays at church so it seemed natural to consider asking myself some hard questions.  Am I content? What makes me content.  What makes me stray from being content? ?

When asking God a question dealing with your life, be prepared for serious answers or don’t bother asking.  Somehow, someway, sometime, possibly in a fashion you do not expect, He will answer because of His intense love for you, for me. Isn’t that wonderful?

Earlier posts this summer questioned where my contentment lied. Changes in my home situation and possible lifestyle challenged who is REALLY IN CHARGE.   I could tell from my inner reaction when asked certain answers, not having the answer  and not being OK with that, I realized I was the one who needed to be in charge.

The main point of the messages on CONTENTMENT boiled down to one idea for me.
Contentment is not a Noun or life I fall into. I cannot choose to be content  True, deep lasting Contentment does not  depend on my own resources to achieve it.

If CONTENTMENT  doesn’t fall on me with the circumstances of a spring day or from my choosing,  how do I get it. People such as Mother Theresa or St. Francis of Assisi appeared to be calm and cool. Are they born that way? No. They needed to go through the same refining fire as everyone else.The Fruits of the Spirit are freely available to us when change and challenge cause contentment to fly south.
Ask yourself what fruit is needed  most in your life when hit in the face with CHANGE. When a CHALLENGE is put square on your plate and worry seems to loom larger  than life, what fruit is God wanting to develop in you to express  His Character. The answer for me was not difficult =
PATIENCE AND PEACE.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) – See more at: http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/who-am-i-becoming/#sthash.9x0JlyyM.uzQ2dZfC.dpu

God sees my makeup. God knows my needs.

The birds of the air and the wildflowers are beautiful in sight and sound. They are His creation. He delights in them and meets their needs.

God DELIGHTS IN ME. He came to live in me and with me so I could change and Delight in Him.  Contentment does not rest on looking at my reserves. It is keeping my eyes fixed on Him and walking with my hand in His.

“Men and women may argue and make excuses but it does not change the fact that in our society we are completely surrounded by the ancient curse; everything is recent, transient and temporal. That is why the Holy Spirit whispers faithfully reminding us of the Christ of God Eternity, walking in the flesh. God Almighty comes to live among us and to save, actually to give us eternity. ”   30 Morning With Tozer.  Daily Devotional Readings

CONTENTMENT  resting in the One Who Loves Me. Not so preoccupied in the world and getting but to RESPOND TO GOD AND HIS GIVING.