Having contentment during a crisis is a Remarkable Thing! This is the start of week 16 of full-time telework. Although my job started what is called our reconstitution plan back into the building, we have less than 10% of the workforce back on-site. I had no clue when I left the building on March 16, that things would drastically change, that our death toll due to the coronavirus would be over 125,000 and that we would have to figure out how to coexist with a deadly virus, amidst an ongoing social justice crisis that has created a movement.
This is a lot to process! Nevertheless, we are told in Philippians 4:11, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. You see, contentment according to a recent article posted by Good Therapy, clearly describes that contentment means to be happy with what you have, who you are, and where you are. It is respecting the reality of the present. It is appreciating what you do have and where you are in life. Contentment does not mean the absence of desire; it just means you are satisfied with your present, and you trust that the turns your life takes will be for the best (https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/the-essence-of-contentment-how-acceptance-promotes-happiness-0911194). I really like this definition because it encapsulates what contentment is and what it isn’t.
Because of the reality of our current situation, we must become content by knowing that all things will work together for our good. Although we have become creative in how we celebrate birthdays, graduations and other milestones, we must as the definition states, respect the reality of our present. Our contentment can’t be dependent upon external circumstances but must be grounded on an internal knowing that we must operate in wisdom and use a spirit of discernment to make good decisions regarding how we re-engage in society.
I know from experience that you can have contentment whatever state you’re in -- but you will have to give God your heart and allow him to transform your mind. And once you do this, it is an ongoing learning process.
So you can do this, for now, we must learn how to coexist with this crisis and re-imagine contentment from God’s prospective.
Dr. ReShone
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