by Janet Wahlquist
Two seemingly harmless phrases have been, instead, thieves in my life. Spoken in an unguarded moment, they creep in to steal contentment. Who are the culprits? "If only…" and "I wish….". They certainly don't appear to be too dangerous. Surely I have a right to dream of things better than they are now? It could be that some can think along the lines of these little openers without damage, yet I regret my allowance of them in my language. Because really, they can't be blamed. It is I who am failing to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. What they are for me now are warning signals to alert me of my wrong thinking. They justify foolish imaginations. "The fool has said in his heart there is no God. They insinuate that God is not in control or if He is, is not working all things out for good. This is inverse complaining, in a way. I Php 2:14 ¶ Do all things without murmurings.
1Ti 6:6 ¶ But godliness with contentment is great gain.
How often I used to think: "If only I could get a full night's sleep. I wish the baby weren't so fussy. I wish we had a indoor washer and dryer. If only we could get a place out of the city…." This kind of thinking led me to become discontent. 1Ti 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. "If only" and "I wish" propose that there is still something lacking for me to be content. Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I now see that wishful thinking is saying that something about this state that I find myself in is wanting. I need this or that to complete my "happiness". It is beginning to covet what has not been provided by my loving, merciful Lord and Savior. Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
When first married, we rented a small one-bedroom apartment close to the beach. I tended to look at what it did not have and the flaws in the situation (no washer or dryer, noise blasting through the walls, etc.). When we moved to a larger rental expecting our second child, it seemed that it wasn't perfect, either! J I seemed to go from house to house wishing for something different and found that I hadn't been able to enjoy and be thankful for what we did have. If I could go back, I would determine to say and think phrases like these: "How thankful I am that…" "What a blessing to have…" "God has richly provided this…." I slowly learned this lesson as we moved. The ninth rental stands out as a real victory (I am a slow learner). Behind the house was a mental fence as the boundary of our yard. The other side was completely lined with all kinds of junk, rusting metal shelves, old tires piled high, wooden desks rotting, etc. When I beheld this eyesore, my first thought was, "Now don't complain about that. Don't wish it would go away." When I look out the back, I am going to thank God for the inexpensive rent, how roomy the place is and all the things I can think of." To be honest, I also knew it would be impossible to change anyway. The whole town was really one big junk yard. I knew it had been accumulating for years. What an amazing day a few short months later when I looked outside and saw a group of workers who had appeared from nowhere piling and sorting the stuff. In the next few days, much was carted off. "Oh well, it's an improvement," I thought. Then came the blaze. All remaining junk became a "controlled burn" as they say around here. It all went away in the biggest fire I have ever seen that close, and has stayed away for the entire time we lived in that house (6 and a half years). I know our all-powerful and all merciful God planned that to emphasize the His lessons on contentment. By the way, within a few years after that, our yard became a much bigger eyesore, when the boys started their small engine repair business. Ask the boys if I complained. 1Co 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Don't let your joy in the Lord be destroyed by the seeds of discontent.
Pr 19:23 ¶ The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.
