quarantine & listen up... are you content?

If you can think of something you absolutely love more than anything in the whole world and would be a wreck if you didn’t have that thing or was taken from you (boyfriend, parent, job, opportunity) you are not fully content in your life and you can’t be with God. If we are holding onto these earthly things in our lives, and the thought of losing them for some reason is so unbearable- you need to check yourself with God. If you can’t confidently say “Okay I can live without that...” or “Okay God if this is your will you can take it from me...” then you are not fully devoted to God. I know what you're thinking- well what if God placed that THING in my life that I love so much?? Well that's because God loves you so much and is giving you the desires of your heart! (Psalm 37:4) But that absolutely gives us even more reason to praise God, devote ourselves to Him, fall at His feet- FIRST before anything else.

I have been in a situation “so perfect” where the thought of losing this one person in my life was impossible, I didn’t even consider it because they were so special to me and I couldn’t handle it or bear the thought of it. I placed them on a totem pole higher than anyone else and I knew that what I was doing was idolizing them. I knew that every time I thought about God removing them in my life was bad territory so I ignored it. How often in your everyday life do you encounter something you need to do or know is right but "eh *shrugs* another time" oh my goodness especially in quarantine!!

The thing is that we have these earthly possessions like our significant others, our families, and even our jobs that the thought of losing them we immediately say “NO. No that could not happen that’s my everything, I wouldn’t know what to do... just NO” but let me tell you something... God is willing to do anything to pursue you and me. He will take away things that stand in the way of your love for HIM. You are supposed to be that passionate and dedicated to HIM first. The one that is CONSTANT, never changing, the faithful one that He has always been. Isn’t it funny how we treat our earthly loves like that? We treat people as if they will never disappoint us and we put so much faith into the earthly, untrustworthy things that DO in fact let us down- all the time. Imagine how faithful we are to keep running back to those things... But God never has, and He doesn’t even get the recognition, love, and desire that we give to other people in our life. #facts

"God is willing to do anything to pursue you and me"

READ JOB 1 <--

Last summer at camp we (shoutout to Rose!) taught about Job. In a nutshell, Job lost almost e v e r y t h i n g. It started because Job was a faithful servant and Satan didn’t think that Job was faithful because he loved God, but faithful because God blessed him with so much “stuff.” So God gave Satan permission to tempt him, and take his "things" to prove Job was faithful. Understand that Job had so much faith in God, that in the midst of getting his family taken from him, his animals and property taken from him, and his home and entire life- he never stopped praising God and being faithful to him. As a matter of fact, after everything that was done to him halted, Job tore his clothes and shaved his head to basically say "Okay Father, I have nothing else. This is my most devoted naked self to you, the one that blessed me with everything." ~Take a moment and read that passage & let it sink in. When I have read this over and over again I feel guilty and ashamed for holding onto what I love so dearly, because GOD gifted me with these things. And oftentimes I love these gifts more than I love the best one of all.

I know that during this quarantine everything is so tough, for everyone. For me personally it started off being the absolute worst timing because my life was already a wreck. I was learning to cope with my "things" (plural) that God took away from me to pull me into Him again. But I can tell you that so far it has been the biggest blessing and it has been so necessary for me. So while you're overthinking way more than usual, and you're stressed more than usual, I hope you can think about what you are putting in front of God. Because God loved us, YOU, so much he doesn't want you to stray away from Him. It's not easy, it's very painful- but oh so so worth it.

"Being content with what you have is not settling with what you have. It's learning to see what you already have in a way you might have otherwise overlooked" - Morgan Harper Nichols

My intention is not to make you feel bad for living your life or enjoying the blessings that you have... but make sure that you are putting your idolization and devotion to the most important placeholder. If you felt convicted or immediately thought of someone or something when thinking about what's most important to you, PLEASE pray about it. Ask God to help you be grateful for those things, but more importantly ask Him to help you be content and happy without those things. Check out the first part of this scripture that you might not have heard...

Philippians 4:11-13

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

We are going to be disappointed and let down and hurt by anything and everything that we put our love into here on earth, it's inevitable. There is one place where we will NEVER have to worry about being let down. I know it's hard sometimes because we don't want to run to prayer or something that we can't see, we want a physical being a physical embrace to assure us. Be careful not to put your entire love or affection where it isn't reciprocated. God doesn't want to see us unhappy or sad, but He will do whatever is possible for us to see Him and know that He loves us. And yes, even if that means you have to get broken to put the image back together- just like a quarantine puzzle.

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Some helpful advice for being content in the Lord:

~Read your Bible, get into a devotional, learn about God so you can fall in love with who HE is (you can't be content with someone you don't know)

~Prioritize HIM

~Spend less time with whomever or whatever your "thing" is

~Do something for yourself. Don't look for validation somewhere else

~Practice loosening your grip on your idols

~Write down things or people you wouldn't have without God, & thank Him!

~Think of some goals you can set for yourself to achieve, not including anyone

~Pray constantly about everything. Big or small, cheesy or serious

Don't lose sight of yourself indulging in our earthly material. Remember that your worth isn't found in a career, your happiness isn't found in a significant other, and your value is not increased by your abilities.

xoxo

-R