Are You Learning to Trust God Yet? with Wendy Munn

Written by: Wendy Munn

Many of my friends and family retired at the ages of 55, 57, and 58, and here I was, turning 60, with no retirement insight. I began to have a spirit of irritability. I was wallowing in the “why them and not me” mode. It was not pretty. I found myself focusing on my circumstances and comparing myself with others rather than God and His plan for my life.

Have you ever compared your life with others, believing your life would be complete if only you had what they had?

God knew what I was wrestling with and, in His own way, revealed to me how to refocus on Him and not others.

During this time of discontentment, my church hosted a women’s conference called “Women Called to Pray.” When the women’s coordinator asked me to speak on contentment, I burst out in laughter! I thought, “Really, God, contentment, now?”

What great evidence that He sees you and me and faithfully brings opportunities across our paths to help us face and work through our struggles.

In addition, the ministry I worked for was in preparation for a prayer summit. I love the privilege of being a part of what God is doing, but to be honest, it became taxing because weeks before, several of our staff were out of the office, as well as our executive director, who leads the prayer summit. While a few others and I were preparing the space to host the event, I moved some furniture, and to my delight, I discovered a penny on the floor. As I picked it up, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Are you learning to trust me yet?.” This question from the Lord speaks to the fact that Jesus knows my past and present struggles of trusting Him.

I have learned that the secret of contentment is not a linear path but a journey that can be a roller coaster of mountain tops and valleys. I have found in my life that you cannot separate anxiousness, lack of peace, and discontentment. You cannot experience one without the other.

Peace and contentment are synonyms. Just as you cannot separate anxiousness, lack of peace, and discontentment, you also cannot separate peace and trust, which leads to contentment, all of which come from Christ alone.

These are the things Paul speaks of in Philippians 4. In verses 4-7, he tells us to rejoice, to not be anxious, to give thanks, to pray and cry out to him, and in response, the peace of God will guard us. Then in verses 8-9, Paul tells us things to focus on or think about. As we learn to think on and practice these things, then “the God of peace will be with you.” Finally, Paul instructs us that the state of contentment is something learned. It is the decision to focus on the One who is eternal and constant versus focusing on all the temporary things, people, and circumstances of this world, which are fleeting.

So, what do we do with this?

We become students of Christ.

We release to Jesus the struggles of the past and present.

We lean into Jesus, the One who created us and continues to love us with an everlasting love.

We go to His Word, and through study and prayer, we learn from the Teacher, the One whose lessons are the most individualized because He created us.

Decide to be intentional in turning your focus from your circumstances to the One who is in control. The Lord tells us that when we bring our requests to Him, “the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”. The secret of contentment is learning to trust and rest in the God of the universe, the One who created us and gave His life as a sacrifice for ours.

Remember, friends, this is a journey. Learning anything is a process; this includes learning the secret of being content. Give yourself grace. Be encouraged that our Teacher can be trusted. He is the King of Kings and the Lords of Lords. Find rest and peace in the Prince of Peace, Jehovah Shalom.

*Sometimes pennies in your path appear when you least expect them to.

P.S.

Question:

Are you laboring with discontentment? Why?

Growing Deeper-

One Simple Action Step: Are there areas you may need to lament (losses, hurts, betrayals, injustices, etc.) in your journey of “learning” to be content?

Scripture Plunge: Philippians 4:1-23, Acts 16:9-10,

Verses for Prayers for Contentment

Psalm 23, Psalm 130:5 (the whole psalm), Psalm 91, Psalm 57, Psalm 37:3-4, Proverbs 3:5-6,
Proverbs 4:25-27, Proverbs 19:23, Isaiah 26:3-4, Isaiah 41:10, 2 Corinthians 10:5,
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Matthew 6:33-34, John 14:27, Joshua 1:9, Ephesians 6:10-18, 1 Timothy 6:6-10, Habakkuk 3:17-19, Colossians1:24, John 4:13-15

Download the Contentment in Challenging Times Work Sheet

Do you need prayer? Contact Jodi by clicking here. Or email Jodi at email@JodiAiken.com.

View this message on my YouTube channel by clicking here or the image below.