Contentment, Resilience, and Instant Gratification

Let's talk about contentment. As the Scriptures say, "godliness with contentment is great gain." And that promise has been very much in my thoughts in recent weeks as I grapple with when and how and why I am not always so contented in the midst of trials or setbacks. This line of thought intersects so many others that it's hard to know where to begin. But developing perseverance and resilience requires that I get in there and stay on it. When so much of post-modern American society is addicted to instant gratification, the counter-intuitive is that we are actually better off accepting that the Lord does not always give us what we want, and that he almost never gives us what we want when we want it.  Yet in Christ we have everything we need for life and godliness. And in that realization we can find peace - with God and our fellow man and ourselves. And when we meditate on this fact, it helps us to stand up under trial in a way that is gracious, good, and wise.