Two Sides to Contentment: Learning Both Not To Want and To Want

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11b-13

My Pastor preached a sermon yesterday on contentment - differentiating between what we in today's society believe that it means to be content (being satisfied with the things we have) and how the Bible defines the word (being thankful for, or literally wanting what we have).

Based on the Biblical definition, it's not enough to just be ok with our circumstances or the things we own, and to not want other things or wish for different circumstances - we have to want what we have. 

Either way you define it, I am not a very content person.  

I was convicted throughout the entire sermon, as I have a tendency to spend a lot of time daydreaming and planning for my house.  You see, my husband Nathan and I bought it knowing that there were things we were going to want to change down the road, as finances allowed.  Don't get me wrong - I love the house that we bought; but as time goes on, I've found more and more things that I would like to change, eventually.  And though I stated (after a few initial changes were made before moving in) that I would be satisfied to live in it as-is for however long necessary, several other changes have since been made - often on a whim - because I (or we) had an "idea" for something that would "make it better," and quickly, I would find myself no longer happy with it the way it was.

Those ideas, in and of themselves, were not wrong. And trust me, I like the changes we've made.  I don't regret any of them.  However, they are evidence of a heart-issue. The constant need to upgrade.  I'm not satisfied with what I have - I always want a little more or a little better.

On the flip-side - wanting what you have - this was a doozy for me. My Pastor used the illustration from Corrie Ten Boom's Hiding Place, in which Corrie (living in a flea-infested barrack of a concentration camp) asked her sister, "How can we thank God for the fleas?"  And after much consideration, her sister actually came up with a reason to be glad for the fleas - and a darn good one, too.  What!?  Are you kidding me!?  WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!?

This illustration hit home with me more-so than I would like, as Nathan and I are currently (and rather unsuccessfully) fighting off fleas with the our four pets (two dogs and two cats).  I've given those animals more baths in the past month than I ever hope to again for the rest of my life, and I've gotten enough cuts and bruises in the process that someone might start believing that Nathan is abusing me, ha.  I've medicated all four animals.  I've sprayed down every surface.  I've washed all their bedding.  Yet, still, the fleas keep coming!  Up to yesterday, I had been able to say, "Thank God, they seem to be staying on the pets (rather than infesting the carpet/furniture), and even better, they haven't bitten us... that is, until last night.  I was awoken at about 3am by our hound dog, Willow, barking; and thank God for that, because right as I woke up, I felt something tiny land on my skin - it was a flea.  Took, our Yorkie, who was sleeping next to me, had apparently become a little too boring of a host for said flea; and so it decided to venture onward to the next living thing - me!  Trust me when I say that I jumped out of bed and handled that mess quickly (much to Took's dismay, as that meant abruptly awakening him for a comb-down, as well)!

I don't want fleas! I hate them, possibly more than any other nuisance in life, and I'm not sure that anything else so tiny could frustrate me quite so much as these pesky devils.  They have ruined many an otherwise good day for me in the past month ('cause let me just say, giving four pets a flea bath can take up just about an entire evening, and even if it doesn't, that will just about kill the mood for anything else, if you know what I mean).  Nathan and I have been stressed.  We've been exhausted.  We've been a little more snappy than usual.  What is there to possibly be thankful about in having fleas!?

I am not thankful for them.  I am not happy to have them.  I do not want them.

Lord, teach me to want what you've given - or allowed - me to have, both the "good" and the "bad."  Help me to be content in all circumstances - the full version of contentment - satisfied AND thankful.