When Having Less is More Than Enough

We were seated on a bench, waiting for a train, in the heart of Jerusalem. I'm not sure how the conversation shifted to small electronic devices designed for reading, but one of the missionaries had a more advanced version that allowed internet connections. 

"We watched a movie on it last night," she told us.

I was incredulous. 

"It was free with Amazon prime," she assured me. Missionaries are accustomed to justifying even the smallest "splurge," lest donors think they're being frivolous with donations.  (The electronic device had been purchased on sale...)

My surprise wasn't that she'd watched a movie, but that she and her husband had watched a movie on a screen the size of a paperback book. "That's such a small screen. Could you see it?"

"Oh, yes. It was enough." She went on to tell us about the movie, as if two people crowded around a tiny electronic device to watch a full-length movie was the most common thing in the world.

I can't get those three words out of my mind. "It was enough."

Enough.

That's the problem, isn't it? We're not always content with enough. 

The children of Israel were a great example of discontent. Manna from heaven was enough, but they wanted something different. Something more. 

I'm afraid we want more, too. A bigger screen. A nicer outfit. A newer car. A better view from our kitchen window. We want more, and God often gives it.

I wonder, though, how He would respond if we asked for more souls saved, more lives changed, more hearts softened, more glory for Him.

In the big scheme of eternity, the size of the screen on which we watch a movie doesn't matter at all. The number of people we tell about Jesus does.

The size of our retirement fund won't matter in heaven, but how we cared for widows, orphans, and the poor will.

The square footage of our homes won't matter when we're with Jesus, but how we used that home to welcome the lonely will.

In this country, most of us have enough of what we need. What we lack is contentment, and that only comes by surrendering our worldly desires to Him and embracing whatever He provides.

Today, let's take time to thank God for all His gifts. Let's look around our homes, your lives, and thank God for all we have. Let's tear up our "want" list and replace it with a list of kingdom wants, things that please and glorify God. 

Let's ask God to teach us contentment - no matter what He gives.

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12,13 niv

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Making a Choice and Choosing a Path 

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