Comparison Is A Thief

Contentment has been a struggle for me lately. I look at the people around me and I see all that they have and I wonder, why don't I have...x, y, or z? Our country has set this really hard standard of what is considered living a happy life. We consider having the right cars, the right home, the right amount of children, the right kind of clothing, the right schools, etc. There is this mad dash to get more than everyone else, to be better than everyone else, and to just be the best. 

   My struggle has been with the lie that I need to have a home to feel settled and a job for my husband to feel secure. Both those things are good, but they will not satisfy me or bring me joy ultimately. Nor will they bring me the things I crave: belonging and feeling secure.

I had a friend yesterday ask me what I was learning about my time that the Lord has me in, and it dawned on me. The Lord has been teaching me that HE is enough. I don't need anything but HIM! I don't need a home, I don't need my husband to have a job, or any of the other things I crave. I just need him. 

Paul's verse to the Philippians has continually come to mind as I have walked this hard journey.

Philippians 4:11-13 

  "I am not saying this because I am in need, 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. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

We have by no means been hungry or felt true need, but the Lord has provided every step of the way. I have wanted for nothing. There have been some things I have wanted, but the Lord has given me what I need and I have found extreme contentment and joy in that.