New Year Contentment

Happy New Year to you all! I love the fact that God loves new beginnings; otherwise, why would He give us creatures so many opportunities to start fresh? New mornings, new months, new seasons, new years. He is good.

And what would a New Year be without some resolutions to go with it? I have one resolution to recommend for 2012, and that is to find contentment. Contentment doesn't change our circumstances, but it does change our hearts, which makes all our circumstances more comfortable. Our contentment does not lie in our circumstances, for if it did, we would only be able to be content when everything is going exactly as we like, which isn't very often. Contentment is found in Christ, who will never leave us or forsake us. Contentment is found in submitting to God's purposes and plans in our lives, even (or especially) when we don't understand. Contentment is a way of exercising our faith.

So here are ten ways to apply contentment in 2012.

1. Be content with your story. That means your birth and upbringing, your parents and your siblings, even your ancestors. Own your people and be content that God has written all of them into your story. Don't just be content with your story; love your story.

2. Be content with your condition. Are you married? Are you unmarried? Divorced? Widowed? Are you pregnant?  Are you not pregnant? If there is sin involved, confess it. If you already have, don't keep on confessing the same sins. Don't waste time on regret because it is both unfruitful and fleshly. Count your blessings and find contentment.

3. Be content with where you live: the weather, the geography, the view, the funny accents, the customs, and the history.

4. Be content with your income.

5. Be content with your health issues, even as you try to overcome them.

6. Be content with your home, how big it is or isn't, how far it is from town or how close it is to the street.

7. Be content with your job assignment. What has God called you to do? What gifts do you have? Be content to use them to please Him.

8. Be content with your time. We all have the same allotment of twenty-four hours per day. Be content with what you can get done in them.

9. Be content with your age. A contented forty-five or sixty-five is much prettier than a discontented twenty-five.

10. Be content with your husband and your children. Don't wish for different.

And have a very Happy New Year!