truly being CONTENT in the Lord

    Lately the Lord has been rocking my world with this whole idea of the simple word, content. Content, in its simple meaning, means to be satisfied or pleased with someone or something. Would you be completely satisfied, completely pleased, completely fulfilled, completely CONTENT if everyone and everything in your life was stripped away from you, and all you had left was your relationship with the Lord? At the beginning of this semester my answer to that question would have been no.

    I have realized that I am constantly surrounded by the idea that having a group of friends or being surrounded by people for a good part of the day is the key to being content with your life. This is one of those things that has become so normalized in our world today, and all the people who do not live up to the standards of having multiple friend groups are left feeling lonely and dissatisfied out of comparison. 

    Why is it that so many people are basing their happiness off of other people who are probably on the inside feeling just as lonely? Why is it that so many people are in friendships with one another, yet still feel so lonely? How come someone can spend a night hanging out with friends, and go back home feeling worse than they did before? Why do we normalize surface level friendships? Why does the world, and so many followers of the Lord, see this as the correct way to live? I mean I guess you have friends at least. On the outside you look like you are living a content and pleasing life. 

    So now we have this problem of people looking one way on the outside but being in a completely different state on the inside. There are a bunch of people comparing themselves to the outward appearances of others, without really knowing what is going on internally. Now we have people who are not content but are pretending to be content because everyone around them seems content. 

    The answer to being content is not found in this awful cycle of surface level friendships and comparison. The answer to being content is seeking the Lord so much to the point where it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, does, says, or has. You know that Lord is your standard, and no one else can measure up to that. Therefore, there is no need to feel like the answer to being content is found in friendships because people will disappoint you, but the Lord will never disappoint or fall short. 

    Once you know this, and believe this and live by the fact that the Lord is your true source of contentment, then I challenge you to live a life full of authentic, genuine friendships so that we are not left just knowing what is happening on the outside of someone’s life, but we know what is happening on the inside. Then, there leaves no room for comparison because you are not just looking at the put together side of your friends, but you are walking besides them in the midst of what is going on internally.