Contentment.
Sometimes it feels like a “stretch goal.”
Do you know what I mean?

I want to live without anxiety. I don’t want to ask, “Yea, but what if…?”

And yet, it is hard for me to…
– let go of daily worries;
– say good-bye to things I can’t control;
– always agree with God’s timing.

The funny thing is, contentment feels so good when I’m sitting in its place of trust and surrender. Why do I fight it?

Building contentment and trust

My faith is important to me. I know that God loves me. I know that He always has my best interests in mind. I know that I can trust Him about anything and everything.

I know all that in my heart.
It’s in my head – my daily decisions – where the struggle begins.

The struggle?  I have to move from “knowing” that I can trust God, to actually trusting Him.  Trusting Him means that I stop trying to help Him out. I stop trying to tell him what to do. I stop doing it my own way, just in case He messes up. (Isn’t that a silly thing to think?)

My definition of contentment is trusting God to be God. Trusting that He will be exactly who He says He is. Trusting Him to do exactly what He says He will do.

Going from anxious to content

I’ve discovered three activities that can quickly move me from that pain-in-the-stomach, knot-in-the-neck, anxious moment to a place of quiet rest:

– Identify what I’m really anxious about. Instead of swirling in emotions, I take a moment and figure out what just triggered the need for chocolate ice cream now. (Was it an email I just received? Tomorrow’s meeting? Mom’s health?)

– I respond to the present difficulty. I focus on what I can and need to do in the present. I stop myself from asking, “Yea, but what if…?”

– I reach for my Bible. I read the verses that remind me of who God is and His promises of peace.

Letting God be God – it brings me to a place of contentment every single time.

What activities help you move through the swirling, the fretting, the anxiety to a place of contentment?