Hi Reader, welcome back to Living Contentment Weekly.
This week is our third installment from my friend Greg Sund on SURRENDER.
If you haven’t grabed a free copy of his e-book ( paperback here) – give it a try for a much deeper dive into true Surrender.
So here’s Greg with this week’s view of Contentment through the lens of Surrender….
READ THIS:
Next year I will turn 50 (Lord willing). As I have reflected on my life so far, it occurs to me that growing older is a funny thing (for those who have not yet tried it). As you age, you come to learn lessons about yourself and about God that cannot be learned except over many years. Three lessons that I have learned (or perhaps am still in the process of learning) are as follows:
- Learning the lessons that God is trying to teach me about myself and about Himself takes time and intention. As my wife often reminds me “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Socrates). We can only grow in wisdom through taking time to reflect and to dialogue with the Lord.
- What I once thought of as good and worthy goals for my life can sometimes turn into idols. With much time I have learned that I am more sinful than I once thought I was and that the “good” goals that I often pursue can sometimes become an object of worship, that which dominates my thoughts and my affections.
- My weaknesses, which have frustrated me for years, are often (and perhaps always) God’s good gift, to remind me of my limitations and to push me toward a greater dependence on Him.
In order to accept and embrace these lessons, a part of me has had to die (or perhaps is still in the process of dying). To be changed by this wisdom, I need to lay down and surrender parts of me and this can be a painful process. But finally, I have learned that on a good day, when I can embrace these lessons, and quiet my soul and recognize and remember what the Lord has done and is continuing to do to me and through me, I realize a peace and a deep contentment that I have never known before. I don’t know how many more years I will have on this earth, but I know that the Lord is at work in and through me, not as in a sprint, but as in a marathon. I am being “slow cooked” and that is a good thing, because the chef is a good chef and a good God.
DO THIS:
Take an hour this week to sit in silence and reflect on your life. Ask God what He has been trying to teach over many years. Then thank Him for His loving kindness and patience to you.
PRAY THIS:
Father, thank You for your steadfast kindness and faithfulness to me over many years. Thank you for the process of sanctification, that You do not save us and then leave us unchanged, but You transform us from one degree of glory to another. Thank You for Your perfect wisdom. Help me to take the time to reflect on the lessons You are trying to teach me. You are a good good God. May my life be a living sacrifice to You.
Another great insight from Greg….Talk to you next Thursday!
~George
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