I have always been a very goal-oriented, driven person. I enjoy a good challenge and something that I can work towards achieving. As a believer, this drive to accomplish something can often undermine my ability to surrender my plans and see how God is moving in my life. Recently, I have been called to new seasons—both in my home life and at work—that have encouraged me to grow in practicing contentment in my circumstances.
As a mother of two young daughters, I am still learning to hold my plans for the day loosely and enjoy the small moments with my girls. I am tempted to set an agenda or list of things I hope to accomplish throughout each day. However, this mentality can quickly lead to frustration when things don’t go according to plan because the girls didn’t nap or cooperate as expected. After giving birth to my second daughter in May 2024, the postpartum season definitely brought this area to light. As my body recovered from childbearing, my days were completely determined by the needs of my newborn daughter. I was able to better appreciate the beauty of this newborn season when I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Many days can feel chaotic and completely out of my control. I have to remind myself daily that God promises to give me the patience, endurance, and grace to get through each day. With this spiritual grounding in my perspective, I can better enjoy and cherish the simple moments with my girls.
In my work life, I switched jobs in the last year and the new role has proven to be not as good a fit as I had hoped. After a couple of months of panic and regretting my decision to move jobs, the Lord began pressing on my heart to consider and not discount why he allowed me to take what feels like a misstep in my career. Rather than dwelling on all the aspects of my job that felt like a bad fit, he encouraged me to seek contentment in the aspects that allow me to have added flexibility while mothering young children and to have more autonomy in my day-to-day work schedule. Despite the lack of growth opportunities and the challenging team dynamic, I am learning to see the ways this new job is actually a blessing in my current season of life. While I don’t think this job is a forever fit, I am seeking to be content and not antsy for however long the Lord has called me to stay in this role. This perspective shift has been a refining experience given my tendency to try to plan out the next season of life.
Even though God is refining my heart, my sinful tendencies still default to putting my desires and hopes above God’s perfect plan. I naturally seek to control my circumstances instead of remaining content and submitting the control to God. Being in community with fellow believers and studying God’s Word has helped me to stay centered on how he calls his people to live in word, actions, and attitude. I pray that I am able to grow deeper roots of contentment in the years to come as I discover more of his promises to his people.
