Lesson on Contentment

I don't wait well. I can be very impatient. 

When it is summer, I can't wait for the routine of the school year. When I am in school, I can't wait till I can sleep in everyday, clean my house (really clean it), read for fun, stay in my pajamas till noon that comes with the summer. 

When I was single, I longed and ached and cried for the days when I would belong to someone. Now, that I am married, I long and ache for children. 

God's timing is not my own, and so I am often told to wait. 
Mission field: wait. 
Perfectly tailored career: wait. 
Perfectly tailored husband: wait. 
Perfectly tailored family: wait. 

I don't like waiting. Now, I do have to say that all the blessings the Lord has bestowed on me have been so worth the wait. I have not always waited well. And now, standing on the edge of a new season, but having to wait to cross into it, I am tempted to not wait well now either. 

The other day, God spoke to my heart. "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I also hear Paul's challenge in his example: "I have learned to be contentwhatever 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."

and then come the how 

1. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. This is not a tag line thrown out before a football game, or a prayer sent up as you shoot the winning basket. This is the secret to contentment. I can be content because through Jesus I can do it. Through Jesus I can wait in godliness not impatience. Through Jesus I can be thankful for my current lot. Through Jesus I do not pine for what I do not have. 
2. Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again rejoice. 
3. Let my gentleness be evident to all. 
4. I cannot be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I can present my requests to God. 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

This is how I can wait in contentment: I can rejoice, give thanks, be gentle to those around me, and take my anxiety to Jesus who will give me peace and who will give me the strength to do it.