A few years ago, medical problems landed me in an unfamiliar place. The specialist I had chosen happens to be in one of the nicer neighborhoods in all of Arizona. The location of his practice meant that Cathy and I would spend many days and nights in that area of Phoenix, sometimes in a hotel and other times in a rented condo.
It was during the frequent travel to that upscale community that I remember thinking, “It would be hard to live here and be satisfied with what you have.” The streets were crowded with very new, very expensive cars. Imagine a place where a simple Cadillac can look like a lower end vehicle. In such an environment, envy lives on steroids.
The reason for my whole line of thinking was simple: I spent many years of my life never being satisfied with the car I drove. Every time we got a car, part of the reason was because our previous car just wasn’t good enough for me. I would give Cathy the list of reasons that it made sense for us to dump the old model and get another one. Sometimes she would put up with me. Other times she would make it clear that she considered my idea a bad choice.
To be honest, much of my envy was secretly tucked away in my heart. I had far more dreams of newer, bigger and/or better than I dared speak to my wife about. I’m telling you now because I know that many people struggle with the same thing. Consequently, I want to introduce you to a word: CONTENTMENT. Is it possible to learn contentment in a world that constantly screams, “Get more…you need it…you want it…you won’t be happy without it?"
This weekend at Stone Ridge Church, we will talk about Contentment as the final piece of the puzzle, helping us to “Reach the Broken Relentlessly.” Simply, it’s hard for us to have the necessary focus to reach out to hurting people when we are constantly trying to fill the emptiness we feel with things which promise fulfillment, but never really deliver. I’m pretty excited to share this with you because I will offer you a step-by-step way off the “never enough" treadmill. I hope you can join us live at Stone Ridge Church…it promises to be a great weekend. Can’t make it? Catch the podcast!
