Am I Content?

I was pretty content this night!

Is there a way to stop those "alerts" from popping up on the computer?  In the midst of writing this devotional I stopped twice when notices flashed from Realtor.com that there was a new listing in my area and Pinterest alerting me of some new pineapple art.

Am I content?  The world screams at me..."There is so much more for you."

If I asked you to stop now and write down a list of areas in your life where you are content and areas where you are desiring more or a change, which would be the easier list to compile?  Remember, God knows our hearts.

I started this exercise.  The first thing under contentment was marriage. (My hubby might differ.) The second was "house," before the "e" was typed the Spirit hit the buzzer. NOT!  Ugh. He was so correct.
I'd like new wallpaper in the power room, where a towel bar was pulled out and the wall had to be patched.  The 16 year old carpet in our bedroom has me wishing I'd done hardwood floors, but they would have had to be refinished by this point and that's a terrible task.  The 35 year old couches in the living room are so saggy it is hard to get up off them.  

Searching my heart for contentment I realize I am okay with my wrinkles, graying hair, southern accent and left over weaknesses from the stroke.

I'll stop right there and switch to my discontent column and get on with the needed repentance. It has truly broken my heart to see how much discontentment I harbor. Twelve things flew onto that list.

Lord, I need a shift in perspective and a change of heart!  You promise that by Your power, Spirit and strength, true contentment is obtainable and will allow me to live everyday to its fullest. I'm looking to You Lord.  Teach me, I want to learn to be content. In Jesus' name, Amen

Meditating on Paul's challenges in Philippians Chapter 4 is a start.
v1   Please keep on being faithful to the Lord
v2   you belong to the Lord, so I beg you to stop arguing with each other.
v4   Always be glad because of the Lord! I will say it again: Be glad. 
v5  Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here.
v6  Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up   
      your prayers and requests to God.
v7  Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one 
      can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.
v8   keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, proper, worthwhile     
       and praiseworthy. 
v9   follow my example 
v11 I have learned to be satisfied with whatever I have. 
v13 Christ gives me the strength to face anything.
v 23 I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless your life! 

John Piper
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-end-of-discontentment

C.S. Lewis said it beautifully:

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”                                      (Mere Christianity, 136–137)

Let’s read the last sentence again: 

“Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”

Jon Bloom wrote for Desiring God      
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/lay-aside-the-weight-of-discontentment

"In the race of faith, it is crucial to remember that our contentment is not determined by our circumstances. We often want to blame circumstances for our discontent, but that’s barking up the wrong tree. 

Contentment is determined by what we believe. And our belief is fueled by what we’re seeing. So if you need to lay aside the weight (Hebrews 12:1) of discontentment today—the sinful kind that stems from disappointment and leads to grumbling—begin by looking at what you’re looking at….

Three Steps to Get Your Eyes on the Prize                                                                                                         Sinful discontentment is a weight to lay aside. But you can also think of it as a gauge in your heart that tells you when your spiritual eyes have strayed from the real Prize. When it shows up, stop what you’re doing, look at what you’re looking at, and redirect your mind to the real Treasure.

1. Stop

When you recognize discontentment, the first thing to do is stop what you’re doing. Stop grumbling and complaining. Stop sulking or stomping around the house. Stop the critical tongue toward others that often comes from the abundance of a discontented heart. Stop looking at the covetousness-producing catalogs, Tweets and Facebook pages. Stop and…

2. Look

Look at what you’re looking at. You’re discontent because you perceive an obstacle between you and your prize. Name the prize you want. It’s probably not Jesus since Romans 8:38–39 tells us that nothing can separate us from him. 

3. Think

Getting our spiritual eyes back on the right prize only comes by thinking. What we ponder is what we perceive. We’re discontent because we’ve been meditating on the wrong things and become weighed down with lead-like frustration. It’s time to pick up the easy yoke (Matthew 11:30) of delight in Jesus by doing what Paul instructed the Philippians to do:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Don’t let discontentment govern you today. Lay aside this heavy weight by fixing your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), whose surpassing worth, when you see it, makes the worst circumstances this world can throw 
at you nothing but rubbish.