Be Content

Posted by Jen Braun on Jun 1, 2010 in Daily Bread | 3 comments

Three weeks ago I received news that my dad lost his job. It has been his third lay off in twelve years. He works in the mechanics industry doing hard labor each day, a job where if you are younger you get hired easily and the older guy gets, well you know… At first I was mad. I could not believe that at 58 years old my dad was once again jobless. I was worried about my parents’ finances and how they are going to make it. Would they loose the home? I was worried about the stress they would go through together. It was a sad day.

At first I prayed for a job to magically appear for my dad. That just seemed temporal, a quick fix… there had to be something more going on. I then started praying for his heart. Yes, a job would be great, but praying for my dad’s heart seemed to be far more important. I prayed that God would protect his heart from feeling like a failure, and for feeling lost in humiliation. I prayed for my parents marriage and that God would bind them together closer than He ever had. I prayed that if this was a season of my dad needing to cling to Jesus for all things, and learn something new about himself and/or Jesus, then AMEN!

I was recently reminded of Philippians 4:11-13, where Paul talks about being content in all situations because of God’s strength. It made me realize that this is exactly what I had been praying for my dad. Again, a job would be such a blessing right now and is still needed, but I know I’m praying for something so much bigger than that, and I think that is okay too! While my dad does need a job, my prayer is that he leans more and more into Jesus for strength, not a paycheck.

What does it mean to be content in ALL things? I know it’s a struggle to be content even when things are going well – what is it about Christ that sustains us even when things, well, are not so good. Jesus reminds us that our Father provides for our needs, if even it isn’t in a paycheck.