Contentment
 Would you like some apples? This is the question with which I have been badgering everyone who comes round at the moment. Yes – it’s autumn and our trees yet again have come up trumps and produced a wonderful crop of apples. We do feel truly blessed with our garden here in Ashtead. How wonderful to have so much free food - there are indeed benefits to putting up with the English rain! That was what I thought until Saturday morning when I went round, as promised, to pick my mother’s fruit and vegetables. That was when everything changed! Suddenly our great crop of apples didn’t seem so great at all. These apples were in a whole different league. These apples were huge and rosy and unblemished. These apples were amazing! Our apples rapidly seemed poor, unattractive and very second rate. No prizes for guessing which apples I suddenly wanted!
I wonder if you ever suffer from this attitude? I know my children do – one of the consequences of seeing adverts on TV. And I suspect that we are a lot more susceptible to it than we realise. Do you ever find yourself suddenly not appreciating your UK holiday so much after you’ve heard about someone else’s wonderful holiday in some exotic location? Or were you perfectly happy with your wardrobe until you saw the new coat in the shop window? We are surrounded by consumerism encouraging us to think that we won’t be happy until we have the next new gadget, vehicle, item of clothing, beauty product or whatever. I suspect that none of us are immune and one of the curses of living in such a wonderfully privileged part of the world is that we quickly become discontented with the extraordinary blessings that we have.
But hear these words of the apostle Paul: For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:11-12)
When Paul wrote these words, he was languishing in prison! And yet he describes himself as content. Have you learned the secret of being content in every situation yet?
Last week James and I visited Milner House to lead a communion service. After the service James was speaking with one of the bed-bound residents. Despite a stroke taking away her mobility, this lady has a very sharp mind and an extraordinary attitude to life. It was her birthday recently and when the staff brought her a cake and asked her to make a wish, she exclaimed that she couldn’t make a wish – she already had all she could possibly want! What a humbling attitude. Here is a lady who has learned Paul’s secret of contentment.
So this week as you go about your daily life, can I encourage to see the blessings that God has given you already and to rejoice in those, rather than making comparisons with others. Only as we can truly be thankful will we learn this secret of contentment.
Dear Lord, please help me to appreciate what I have and not always be longing for something better. Please teach me the secret of true contentment. Amen
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