The Secret of Being Content

Everyone has a story of how God’s hand of mercy was on them at one point or another in their lives. An event that you simply could not explain rationally, but it radically changed your life. Have you ever wondered why this happens? I believe that it’s one way that God allows us to catch a glimpse of His glory. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to step back from our normal lives and reflect. I know for myself, these types of events have taught me the secret of being content.

Philippians 4:13 teaches us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. This is the conclusion to the two verses in front of that one, Philippians 4:11-12, which speak of being content in all situations. I believe that being content in all we have or do is one of the most difficult practices of our faith. Allow me to give a personal example from my own life.

In the spring of 1993, I was reassigned from a military base in Germany to another within the country. I was one of only four people to relocate from the first base and therefore had some corporate knowledge that was deemed vital to the success of the new work place. After a few months, I applied for a new job assignment that became available. I was excited about this opportunity for it would allow me to fly all over Europe, Asia, and Africa, and would provide additional pay. This seemed like perfect timing especially since my wife and I were about to have our second child.

I was accepted for the new job position and only needed the approval and release from my current job to begin the new one. I was told, however, that I could not take the new job until more people were qualified to do my current job. While this makes perfect sense to me now, it didn’t then and only made me frustrated and angry. The new job was filled within two weeks by someone else. It was obvious that it wasn’t meant to be.

I can say that now…it wasn’t meant to be, but both I and my wife felt disappointment for a long time over losing a better job opportunity. Three months later, I met the person that took “my” job. He was very gracious and said that he was sorry that I didn’t get the position, but not that sorry all the same. He loved the job.

This brings me to being content in all things. I know that I wasn’t content and it showed in my work, my relationships, and in my trust in God’s timing for my life. One night, in the fall, I arrived at work to find out that an aircraft had crashed into a mountain. There were no survivors. My soul ached and I cried, even more so when I realized that the person who got “my” job was on that flight. If I had gotten my way, it would have been me who perished on that mountainside. I went home and told my wife and we realized that we had been angry and frustrated when God was actually protecting us.

Why does it sometimes take such tragedy to make us realize that our lives are not our own? As Christians, we gladly claim to forfeit our lives for the cause of Christ. Yet, we continually live divergent to that claim. Only God knows the whole picture. Our job is to trust Him and be content with all things.

Thermostats and Thermometers

In the Airheart home, there is always a minor war raging...when it comes to the temperature. Can anyone else identify with this mini civil war?

I really should have seen it coming 21 years ago when Kelli and I started dating. We would be driving down the road and she would say, (in her sweetest, most innocent voice) "Is the car a little warm to you?" Honestly, I didn't think so, but I politely obliged by turning the temperature down to something more agreeable to her. After all, I was in love, and what's a little frostbite when you are in love?!

I soon came to understand that the question really never was a question...it was a suggestive command, and one I would hear MANY times over the years.

You see, I am very cold-natured. I have made jokes about it over the years, but I just stay cold most of the year..."kiss-of-death hands", I call it. Even in the summertime, I have to have blankets on me. I don't remember a time when I wasn't like that. Kelli on the other hand (as well as Hunter), is very hot-natured. She enjoys the cold, in an almost giddy way. According to her, the central heat "is suffocating". "It's just too hot in here and it's hard to breathe!"

And so, even after 17 years of marriage, we have a constant dilemma which usually causes us to rendezvous at the thermostat, located in the downstairs center hallway. This is the recurring scenario: I find her reading the thermometer and reaching for the thermostat, and she finds me armed and defending the control settings on said thermostat. I suggest she step away from the thermostat...and she suggests that I put on more layers of clothing. There was actually one time recently when I felt as if I had actually won the battle: the thermostat was on 72...only to discover (when I woke up shivering uncontrollably in the middle of the night) the ceiling fan on and set to its highest setting. As a matter of fact, it was turning so fast that, if I had turned the ceiling fan upside down, our house would have flown away like a helicopter. Had it not been for the mattress warmer on my side of the bed, I am convinced I would have died from hypothermia.

Thermostats and thermometers are more than just household instruments...they are also personality types. You know exactly what I am talking about here. 'Thermometers' go into situations and do nothing more than reflect the temperature of the situation or the culture. They are a translation of the surroundings. 'Thermostats' go into the same situations and do more...they change or set the temperature of the culture around them. They transform.

Paul talks to the Romans about this very situation: Romans 12:2: "Don't be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world..." In other words, don't be a thermometer and ride the temperature waves of the culture around you, where who you are and how you feel is determined by the people and situations around you.

It takes no energy to be a thermometer. Matter of fact, it is one of the easiest things to be.

What's harder is to be the thermostat, especially in a world that seems way too often cold and increasingly growing indifferent to the things of God. Where you work, where you live, where you spend your leisure time...with your coworkers, with your family, with your friends, the temperature is constantly fluctuating.

Oh, how we need more thermostats in our world! How we need brothers and sisters who know and love the truth to step in, step up and set the temperature by living lives that are different. How we need brothers and sisters who Know the Difference AND Live the Difference in such a way that, wherever they go, the cultural temperature actually changes. Conversations are sweetly tempered with love and truth. Relationships are transparent and accountable. Workplaces are transformed and joyfully productive.

Yes, it takes energy...and yes, it is hard. But if we truly want to see Godly transformation happen in and around us, you and I have to position ourselves in such a way that God can use us to be the "thermostat in the hallway".

Thermostat or thermometer...temperature setter or temperature reflector...transformer or translator...

Which one are you?

Discipline and Community

Our children battle us (their parents) for this "right" all the time don't they? True, Calvin articulates it more directly than our children, but their actions and attitudes often speak for them in unmistakable terms. I was no different myself. I wanted, and often wrongly claimed the right, to be free of expectation, rules, obligation, and accountability. I wanted my actions to impact no one but myself and therefore I thought no one but myself should have the right to confine my choices and actions.

I was wrong. Now, as an adult, I'm thankful that I was wrong. Are there times when I'm tempted to seek my own desires over pleasing the Lord? Yes. And that's why I'm thankful for the spiritual relationships in my life who are willing to say the hard things, ask the tough questions, and provide discipline when necessary.

The parallels between parental discipline and spiritual discipline are highlighted in scripture. Hebrews 12:10-11 says "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (NIV)

I'm thankful to have a wife, a hometeam, and a group of shepherds who are willing to be used by the Lord as his instruments of discipline in my life. I don't allow them this access to my life based on their perfection, but based on their love for me and their love of Godliness. When necessary, they follow the commands of Jesus in Matthew 18 because they love me too much to ignore them.

Last night, nearly 100 of our members listened as our elders shared their love and passion for the Lord and for the body of Christ at Cornerstone. What did they talk about? Mostly about church discipline. Although "no discipline seems pleasant at the time" as the writer of Hebrews says, our elders are committed to "producing a harvest of righteousness and peace" in our church family.

And what a demonstration of family it was! Were there hard questions asked? Yes. Did some seem to have a clearer understanding of church discipline than others? Yes, but the thing that stood out to me was that in all the questions and comments made from the church family there was an observable sense of humility, hunger for deeper biblical understanding, and commitment to authentic community among us.

To be an authentic family of believers who are growing in their commitment to community, loving discipline must be present and taught. That's what it means to be a family. If you don't believe me, just ask your parents.