iSonto #31

This week we are so thankful for our new kitchen! Kitchen renovations were certainly not something we anticipated doing. I had been content for a long time with our kitchen as it was, aside from the dishes that were hard to keep up with and hurt my back to wash. In the end our drawers and cupboards were also wearing out. It came to a point where we realised keeping up with our work and managing my pain was not going to get any easier until we took the plunge.

Here is our old kitchen:

I did a lot of research, talking, and prayer to try and determine the best company to go with for our kitchen renovations, and which parts to renovate. We had to pull out all the cupboards and replace them in order to fit in a dishwasher. In the end we decided to do the whole kitchen, including the pantry, and to go with O'Brien Joinery as our renovator. We are so glad we did, and thankful to God for the whole process. There were some delays but overall great care was taken and the result is excellent.

Day 1, Monday - the whole kitchen was ripped out! Day 2 - there was a supply delay and we were waiting for them to come back, and going out a lot to keep the children out of the area! We did things that are unusual for us like visiting friends for hours and hanging out in the McDonalds play area! God's provision was evident each day and the children were so happy considering their change in routine.

 

Day 3 - cupboards arrived. When I first saw one of the drawers waiting in our garage, I was so thrilled with it and thought "this will be worth every bit of time and money we have put into it".

 

The step in pantry in the corner took a long time to fit in, meaning a delays.

Day 4, Thursday - the remaining cupboards were put in and electrical and plumbing work was completed. Look - our computer finally has a place other than the kitchen table with cords going everywhere!! We have a wonderful shelf in front of our fridge/freezer section. Nate familiarized himself with the new kitchen, rushing back and forth with containers and trying to climb into the new drawers.

 

Day 5 - plastering was completed and final doors put on. Nate runs out to the kitchen and says "we are going to have a beautiful dinner". We were busy cooking up the home grown tomatoes we had been storing in the fridge.

 

We are just starting to familiarise ourselves with the kitchen and find places for everything, but it is incredible how lovely it feels. We have heaps more cupboards and yet it feels larger! Our bench height is now 93cm which is much better for us both.


Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from these poppies flowering in our autumn garden. I planted heaps of seeds and only got a few plants. Yet if I hadn't bothered to plant seeds there wouldn't have been anything! Another little reminder that even when we don't see much of a result, it is important to plant those physical and spiritual seeds if we want to see something beautiful one day.

 

One funny moment was on one of our many outings, Nate became a back seat driver and began to inform me "there is a car coming Mum, be careful" or "watch out Mum, there is a car coming".

Read more...

Contentment in Christ

Hebrews 13:8 is a verse I've thought about over the past year or so:

"Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have, for he himself has said I will never leave you nor forsake you'"

We live in a culture that is built upon covetousness. Consumerism fuels our economy. Consumerism is a largely a product of covetousness. Advertisments constantly encourage people to be discontent with what they have, and to feel that they need more.

I have often considered what it means to be covetous. It cannot simply mean wanting things, because it is not wrong to desire beautiful or useful posessions. The verse does not say "never want anything". Forsaking covetousness does not mean forsaking all desire.

It does, however, mean that desires must not become sinful. They are sinful when they lead to discontentment and ungodly behaviour when they are not fulfilled.

God gives us the antidote to such idolatrous desires: himself. He is so satisfying, that concentrating upon him will help us to stop being covetous. He is enough. It might take me a life time to internalise that lesson.

Read more...

Joy and contentment in Christ

I often hear excellent sermons that I would love to share about on my blog. Like most of the things I would love to share on my blog, they never quite make it here. This time, though, it is finally happening!

A few weeks ago we had a visiting preacher from England, Pete Woodcock, at my church. He spoke on Philippians 4. As you may have gathered from some of my posts, I have been having a tough time being content this year. I keep repenting, and keep failing. So I was grateful to hear a sermon on joy and contentment. I can't say I've improved since hearing it, but I am grateful for the reminder of where true joy lies. Here are some of the points Pete made, taken from my notes.

Question: What takes your joy? What makes you discontent?

These things can be broken down into rough categories:
1. Relationships
2. Circumstances
3. Worries
4. Wrong thinking

God wants to rub it in that we are to rejoice (Phillipians 4:4). We can do this because we have a relationship with God. We need to trust he is in control, pray, and think right.

We are easily side tracked into putting our energy in the wrong places. Put your energy into rejoicing in the Lord. Devotion to the wrong things will kill your joy and bring discontentment.

1 Tim 6:6-8 For godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can take nothing out. Therefore, if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

Hebrews 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"

You have God! Rejoice in Him! When you have God, that is everything. If you rejoice in the Lord, you will get your thinking right. Your resources and your future are in God.

We live in a time when people are utterly discontented. We need to shine out satisfaction in God. Be satisfied within yourself, not needing anything from the world (except food, drink, and warmth). You only need God. Be Christ-sufficient.

Biblical contentment is not indifference, not the absence of emotions. It has been said, the Stoics: "Make the heart a desert, and call it peace." This is not what we are called to. There is a time to weep. Contentment does not mean things will not hurt. But there is something bigger than the hurts - God. God's peace transcends understanding (4:7). The God of peace is personally with you.

1. Right relationships will bring a joy in the Lord (4:2-3). Rejoice in the Lord and divisiveness will go away (provided it is a personality problem, not a doctrinal, error problem). Joy comes in serving in relationships. Even though there are differences, they recognise those they differ with are in the Lord and that is the most important thing.

2. Right focus (4:6-7). Anxiety throttles us and chokes out the truth, so we are unable to bear fruit. Anxieties drain us and cut off our motivation. God's remedy: worry about nothing, pray about everything. Transfer everything on your worry list to your prayer list! We often worry about non-essentials or future scenarios instead of rejoicing in the big, good things God has given us in the present. Worry = self focus. Prayer = God focus, puts God at the center.

3. Right thinking. Feed your mind with positive things (4:8). Think on Christ. He is the epitome of all the things mentioned in this passage (lovely, true, noble, virtuous, etc.). See how everything relates to Christ.

4. A right trust (4:10-19) in the one who is in control. Confidence in God's providence. Paul had a patient confidence in God's providence. God has the times and seasons in his hand. When you start trying to take control, you become discontent and worry. Realise God is in control of the fact that you haven't been healed yet, or you don't have something you want. There are two ways God can act: 1) miracles. 2) working out millions and millions of events to accomplish his plan - providence! Which is harder? Which is more complex?

Our first reaction to a discontent person should be to teach them about God's sovereign control. Teach them not to try and manipulate things and take too much upon themselves.

Conclusion: Our culture is not content with little or with much. It is a consumer age. We constantly think we need more. Christians who rejoice in having enough can be a wonderful witness. Shopping is the national pastime in Britain. The average person receives 2,000 ad messages per day. All saying: be discontent. We have turned our wants into needs. Food, clothing, warmth, friends are needs. There is nothing wrong with wanting something - it is wrong to turn it into a need or a right. For example, many couples want a baby and there is nothing wrong with that. However, it is wrong when those couples decide it is their right to have one and they should be able to do whatever they like to get one - including processes that kill embryos. If only we could see that God is what we need. Even Christians are always falling for ads. When you have the Lord, you can do anything (4:13). You'll be able to be poor, rich, mistreated, or comfortable and still be content.

Read more...

Bible Memory Helps Depression

In Loving God With All Your Mind, Elizabeth George shares several specific practices that God used to bring her out of severe depression.

“The first was memorizing Scripture. Having been told – like every Christian – that I should memorize Scripture and not knowing that I had an option, I had dutifully begun to memorize passages from God’s Word. I wrote Bible verses on index cards which I carried with me, taped on mirrors, laid on the breakfast table, and placed on the windowsill over my kitchen sink. I was doing what I knew was right, but I was quite unaware of the great benefits I would reap”.

Elizabeth goes on to share how she meditated upon these Scriptures, and began to obey them. Phillipians 4: 8 became especially life changing. It taught her to focus on God’s word and the truth rather than upon the depressing thoughts that filled her heart.

Elizabeth’s life is an example of how the Holy Spirit often brings alive practices done solely out of “duty” or obedience, turning them into actions that stem from love and joy. The first step to obeying God’s word is to know God’s word. The more it dwells deeply within us, the more the Holy Spirit will use it to change us.

Read more...

Better than anything

For wisdom is better than rubies,

And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

Proverbs 8:11

This morning on the way to work I was thinking about all the things I desire. An Internet connection at home that will actually connect when you ask it to, instead of sending messages to say "Could not connect" over and over again. A good husband. More money to invest, give away, go to the dentist with, or spend on fun things. Kids. Godly government. My own house some day. A long trip to the USA, so I can see it in autumn, winter, and spring! More enrolements here at school. The salvation of my father, and of friends who are no longer close because our hearts are so far apart. A small NKJV Bible to carry everywhere. More patience. A watch. More and more books. Music CDs.

I won't bore you with telling you "all the things" I desire! (And, no the things listed above are not in order of least to greatest!). I am sure you all have your own things that spring to mind when you read this verse. Wisdom from God's Word can help us gain some things we desire (for example, in explaining money management principles or what type of guy would make a good husband). Yet it is not to be valued for its ends. It is to be valued for its own sake. Wisdom is delightful and precious in itself.

It is amazing to think that anything you can set your heart on is nothing compared to wisdom. It is fine to ask God for all the things that are on our hearts, even things that seem small. Yet it is also important to pray for what God says is important: wisdom. To focus our hearts, and spend our time, upon delighting in the incomparable riches of wisdom.

Read more...

Frugality, Riches and Contentment

In the town where John Adams grew up, his parents lived no differently from their ancestors. Their furnishings were 6 wooden chairs, a table, several beds, a looking glass, a Bible, and three silver spoons that were prized possessions.

“A hat would descend from father to son, and for fifty years make its regular appearance at meetings” (page 33, John Adams, excerpt from a letter).

Hard work and frugality were considered necessary virtues.

This seemed a personal challenge when I read it. In a culture where "new is better"and "more is better", people have ten times more resources than what their ancestors raised ten children with. Yet they belive they cannot afford children. They call themselves poor because they cannot afford the latest technology or a better car.

A while ago I decided on my own definition of riches: a roof over my head (owned, rented, or given), food, clothes, and some money to give away. To that I'd better add a good mattress and a good chair, without which I'd find it even more difficult to manage my back pain. With this definition, I'll probably be rich for life in Australia! In a commentary on Proverbs, David Hubbard argues that having enough to eat, clothes, and something to give, is God's definition of riches in Proverbs.

Whenever I'm tempted to say "I can't afford ___" or "I'm poor", I remind myself of my definition!

I also believe the Bible defines a godly partner and children as riches and gifts of God. So if I ever receive a godly husband and children, I'll be super rich!

The story of John Adams' family also reminds me to be content. It must have required great contentment in simplicity to continue with the same hat for 50 years. No need for excitement and change in the externals.

God also calls us to be content with our situation in life. So if God never gives me a husband or kids, or my own home, or a pain free back, or a trip around the world, I pray I'll accept and embrace what he does give. Each day, each hour, each moment, giving up my ideas of what life should be in exchange for the reality that he gives. As I've gone on in my Christian life, he has increasingly shown me how to do this. I used to be insecure and unhappy about being single, but now I rarely care. I used to grieve that my back kept me from so many things I longed to do, but now I am mainly content with what is possible. God has taught me to take more delight in what he has given, and in himself.

For perhaps the central quality of true riches is contentment. A simple stillness of soul, trusting God that whatever he brings is right. On that theme, an eighteenth-century w0man who called herself "A Poor Methodist Woman" wrote a poem that says it all:

I do not know
when I have had happier times
in my soul
than when I have been sitting at work,
with nothing before me
but a candle and a white cloth
and hearing no sound
but that of my own breath;
with God in my soul
and heaven in my eye.
I rejoice in being exactly what I am
- a creature capable of loving God,
and who, as long as God lives,
must be happy.
I get up
and look a while out the window.
I gaze at the moon and stars,
the work of an Almighty Hand.
I think of the grandueur of the universe
and then sit down
and think myself
one of the happiest
beings in it.

Read more...