My Costco "Ah-Ha" Moment

I've been on the road to contentment for what feels like a really long time.
Once I realized it was an area in my life that needed some attention, I didn't really think it was something that would be a thing of the past the next day. No, I knew it was going to be something in me (my discontent) that would need to be surgically removed. It's like a bad weed. If you don't get to the root it will just keep coming back. But I wasn’t looking forward to the process. That was at least a few years ago!

Then the other day I was at Costco with a friend and we noticed the beautiful swing set they had on display. A minute later (literally), I got very excited. I shared with my friend that I finally understood the difference between wanting something and coveting it. Last year when I would see just about anything for a backyard I would get very upset with the fact that I don’t have one. And I would sort of whine about it. No, not sort of, I had a very whiney spirit in fact. And like an impatient child I would stomp my foot on the ground and petition God for these things that I wanted. Of course at the time I didn’t see it that way. I saw it as expressing my frustration to God (which I believe is ok), but the things I was so easily frustrated by and the way in which I felt and expressed those feelings was very immature. However, on Friday I looked at the swing set and thought how nice it was and how much my kids would love it and kept walking. That was it. I didn’t stand there and dream about it, envisioning my kids playing on it and then asking God why I couldn’t have it. Then go home and complain about where we are financially and how I didn’t understand why if God loved me so much He wouldn’t just give me a nice yard, and of course then a nice big kitchen yada yada yada. What encouragement I felt when I realized that I seem to have grown up a little.

I am not going to say that I have arrived or that I am always content with everything, But I finally get it. My heart gets it without me having to tell it to. Do I want a bigger house? Sure I do. Would I still love a big yard with a swing set and trampoline? Of course I would. But I am truly grateful for what I DO have.

I am sinking my roots deep into the good soil of Christ, trusting that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6) This last little while I’ve shifted my focus. I’m not centering on ME and everything I need to change and work on. I’ve simply been focusing on Christ, and walking in the belief that His Spirit is in me, and so I already have all the fruit of His Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control). And what do you know. When I stopped focusing on all the sinful nature in me and began trusting that death on a cross paid for all of that, things began to happen. I’m starting to have more and more of these little Costco “ah-ha” moments! I see so clearly the blessing of staying where we are and nailing down our debt and the freedom that will come from that. And how in doing so we are learning, growing, and seeing God provide for us.

Is there something in your life that you know needs to be operated on? You wouldn’t expect a heart surgeon to perform his own heart transplant would you? Just because he knows how? Well, let’s stop trying to operate on ourselves and just sink our roots into the rich soil so easily accessible to us in the person of Jesus and see what happens.