With Food and Clothing

I have been sick lately. A nasty cold took me down. I praised God for cold medicine to get me through days of teaching at a quilt retreat, always a good time. The medicine gave me my voice back, kept my sinuses from filling so I could think straight, and helped me sleep at night. Cuddled up in my own bed with Grandma Sowder's quilt stack on top of mine, I slept hard. This was not the ideal situation. I would have loved to have felt great, had all the energy in the world, and not had to worry about hoarseness of voice or attitude. But I was content to be able to function, teach, correct, and fulfill my contract as a teacher for the weekend. And I hope the students were content with me. The situation was not ideal, but we did accomplish the goal, to learn the blocks, tools, and patterns and get some parts together to come to an understanding and to correct problems that inevitably come up. The teacher may have sounded like a frog at times, looked like she was tired instead of energetic, and kept the lessons short and to the point when the voice went away, but they did accomplish their goal of learning what to do and had success in doing it, as well as enjoying the company of others.

1Timothy 6: 8 is a familiar verse...If we have food and covering (clothing), with these we shall be content. If you are reading this, you probably have far more than enough food for the day and one pair of clothes and a cloak (used as the blanket at night) to get through life. So how are you doing with contentment? Are you content with the food you have and the clothes you wear...or do you complain? Are you content with the stock of food in the pantry, fridge, and freezer, or do you complain? Are you content with the far more than food and few pieces of cloth in your life...like the cloth on your furniture, your windows, your floors (called carpeting), and your closets (called coats, hats, and gloves)? These are all beyond what should give us contentment, but these are the things that can make us the most discontent. My carpet is old and worn, the curtains, ditto, and the furniture of 18 years needs mended again. Someday, when the walls are repainted, the ceiling fixtures replaced, these things will be replaced with something that will make me happier, but will I be more content? What is contentment vs. happiness? It must indicate that we are satisfied with what God has given us, in the amount that He has given us, and in the place where He has placed us, even if it is not what we envisioned it could have been. We are happy that things worked out as well as they did instead of groaning that they could have and should have been better or that we deserved more. I don't have to sit on a cold floor, the wind doesn't blow through the windows and I can close the curtains and keep the sun out of my eyes in the afternoons, and the carpet can't be harmed by dirty shoes. Life is good.

I have closets and tubs of fabric, but I can look at it and not be content. I can feel deprivation in abundance, and so can you. Learning to be content means praise and gratitude for what we have and where we are in live, though it may not be ideal. This verse is in the context of those who thought that accepting the gift of Christ's love and forgiveness meant that they were going to get rich and be blessed. Paul gave up everything and did not complain, and he called Timothy to understand that his calling would most likely lead him down that same path. He warned him that if people started getting on him or using the gospel as a means of gain instead of a calling to serve, to avoid them like the plague. Having was not a blessing, and not having was not a curse, and vice versa...to those God gave much, they were asked to share in the ministry, using their abundance to further the kingdom. To those who had nothing, they were encouraged to keep trusting God to provide and to be content when He did, in whatever volume He sent. He continued in vs.. 17 to not equate much with blessing or think that God was looking more favorably on them because they had more than someone else. They were to store up treasure in heaven by giving it away here on earth and really experience life blessed by God here and in the life to come.

Contentment is a blessing in and of itself...it keeps us from comparing ourselves to others, keeps us thanking God for EVERY blessing of food and clothing, let alone all the extras in life that we take for granted, and keeps us in the mood to bless others with our over-abundance. That, people, is a fulfilling place to be.

And if you complain today, you know that contentment has not filled your heart. Use that complain-o-meter to remind yourself to thank God every moment for they over-abundance of blessing we experience every day of our lives. Then, even when we have a cold that drags us down, we can be thankful and content to accomplish the tasks of the day that we have been given for His glory and our ultimate good.