Recently I’ve been asking myself this question:
What does it look like for me to be content and satisfied at this stage in my life and work?
It was the ridiculously wealthy John D Rockefeller who raised the question of satisfaction with this:
“How much money does it take to make a man happy? Just one more dollar.”
In any area of life, family and work—when is where I am, what I’m doing and what I have enough?
In this post I want to think of satisfaction in two ways and explore each a bit.
1. I don’t want to be satisfied with the degree of His Power I’m now experiencing
There is a line from a worship song I often sing quietly to myself, “More Love, more power, more of You in my life.” I want all the God -given power He wants me to have. I desire a fresh infilling of His power every monument of every day. When it comes to power, more is better.
“From the very first you heard and recognized the truth of God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more. It’s as vigorous in you now as when you first learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras.” ~ Colossians 1:6 MSG.
I need to be careful and prayerful about what I’m hungry for!
Hungry for more of what?
I want to be hungry for more of Him—His power, His grace, His anointing.
I want to continue to learn how to tap into his infinite power supply and not run on my on finite power supply.
2. I do want to be satisfied with the degree of His Provision I’m now experiencing
When it comes to power, more is better, but when it comes to provision, less may be better.
I recently memorized this verse:
“Empty out of my heart everything that is false—every lie and every crooked thing. And give me neither undue poverty not undue wealth—but rather feed my soul with the measure of prosperity that pleases you.”~ Proverb 30:8 The Passion Translation
I have this statement in my prayer book whichI take before the Lord most every day:
Content and satisfied in you and with what You provide.
I’m living with the tension between ambition and contentment.
Proverb 30:8 mentions the measure of prosperity that pleases God.
As I have been meditating on this verse, I’m thinking the idea could also apply to the measure of:
- Opportunities
- Impact
- Influence
- Success
- Fruitfulness
- Relationships
That pleases Him!
I have a sense that many leaders are traveling too fast and trying to do too much. They don’t seem to be able to rest and relax when its time and when it’s appropriate. There’s always another goal to reach, another mountain to climb, another level to attain. It’s got to be:
- Bigger
- Better
- Brighter
When is enough, enough?
“There are three words to describe the greedy: Give me more. There are some things (some people) that are never satisfied. Forever craving more, they’re unable to say, that’s enough.” ~ Proverb 30:15 The Passion Translation
The problem is that the opportunities will always exceed the resources (human resources). We need lots of grace and wisdom in knowing what to say yes or no to.
I don’t want to say yes to everything and become crazy
I don’t want to say no to everything and become lazy
I read a book Crazy Busy that messed with my thinking and my schedule!
So there you have it. Knowing what to be satisfied with and knowing what to be dissatisfied with.
What do you think? Love to hear from YOU!
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