Westminster Confessions

Two thoughts have been running through my mind and my day (and even my classes) that have caused me to stop and ponder. One thought is about contentment. The other is about mercy.

The issue of contentment initially came up because of prayer requests in my small group at WTS. All students are randomly assigned to a small prayer group with one faculty member that meets once a week. It is not mandatory, but a good many of the students participate. Of course at first, no one knows each other! So only the “brave” or “outgoing” or “truly needy” seemed to share requests. I thought about sharing a request, but in contrast to some of the other requests it seemed small. Hmmm. That is what started the thinking. Why did I think that my request wasn’t important enough? Does God only listen to the Top Ten at a prayer meeting? Did I feel like I shouldn’t be concerned about my request because everyone else had harder situations?

Then I started to think about the various situations we (as students) are living through. When I struggle with a difficulty, or a need, I realized that I would tend to look at other people who were “worse off” than me and say to myself “Well, you can’t complain, you need to be content… and maybe stick on ‘content in God.’” But was I really talking about true contentment? I don’t think so. I think we often compare our circumstances with others and instead of true gratitude and contentment we yield to guilt. Guilt that I should not feel jealous of the other person’s situation. Or guilt that I should feel more grateful because I’m in a better situation than someone else.

But here’s the thing… our contentment isn’t based on a comparison with other people’s circumstances, it is solely based on my position with God!! My contentment must come from a right understanding of his sufficiency for ME. No matter what my situation is. Even if I lived in a vacuum, and could not compare myself to anyone, I would have to say that I can be content, like Paul, in any circumstance. So, I am pondering the sufficiency of Christ in my life, and the contentment that is a fruit of the recognition of that sufficiency.

But I do not want to just live in my contentment shut away in a closet. My contentment, based on the sufficiency of God for my life, is what empowers me to reach out to others in mercy. Best quote of the day: “I want mercy to be my lifestyle, not just an activity of the church.” These words were spoken to us during chapel today by Pastor Steve Huber. He is a down-to-earth, live-where-the-rubber-meets-the-road, apply-theology-to-real-life kind of guy (and a former WTS student). He is pastoring a church plant in the city of Philadelphia. For a truly challenging and refreshing look at a group of people reaching out to their neighbors, check out the Liberti site.

So I guess what I’m saying is that Jesus Christ gives everything to me that I need, and this allows me to share who I am and what I have with others.

Christ’s Sufficiency—>My Contentment—>Mercy to the world around me

May it be made evident in our lives!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 29th, 2004 at 9:12 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.