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“Contingent contentment turns us into wounded, worried people.”

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World (Kindle Location 1422). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Here’s the problem.  Max says, “You assume, If I get a car, I’ll be happy. You get the car, but the car wears out. You look for joy elsewhere. If I get married, I’ll be happy. So you get married, but your spouse cannot deliver. If we can have a baby . . . If I get the new job . . . If I can retire . . . In each case, joy comes, then diminishes. By the time you reach old age, you have ridden a roller coaster of hope and disappointment. Life has repeatedly let you down, and you are suspicious that it will let you down again.”

Have you found that so?  If you have there needs to be a change in your focus for contentment.

Max later says, “Christ-based contentment turns us into strong people. Since no one can take our Christ, no one can take our joy. Can death take our joy? No, Jesus is greater than death. Can failure take our joy? No, Jesus is greater than our sin. Can betrayal take our joy? No, Jesus will never leave us. Can sickness take our joy? No, God has promised, whether on this side of the grave or the other, to heal us. Can disappointment take our joy? No, because even though our plans may not work out, we know God’s plan will.”

He then says, “Death, failure, betrayal, sickness, disappointment—they cannot take our joy because they cannot take our Jesus.”


So, where are you looking for your contentment?
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