Oh, what an amount of discontent is there between man and wife! If they are crossed in their possessions at land, or have bad news from across the seas, or if those whom they trusted are ruined and the like, or perhaps something in the family causes strife between man and wife, in reference to the children or servants, and there is nothing but quarrelling and discontent among them, now they are many times burdened with their own discontent; and perhaps will say one to another, It is very uncomfortable for us to live so discontented as we do. But have you ever tried this way, husband and wife? Have you ever got alone and said, 'Come, Oh let us go and humble our souls before God together, let us go into our chamber and humble our souls before God for our sin, by which we have abused those mercies that God has taken away from us, and we have provoked God against us. Oh let us charge ourselves with our sin, and be humbled before the Lord together.'? Have you tried such a way as this? Oh you would find that the cloud would be taken away, and the sun would shine in upon you, and you would have a great deal more contentment than ever you had.
I cannot recommend the book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs enough!
The entire book may be read here.
3 comments:
Thanks, for the recommendation, Christine. Sounds like a must read.
As I haven't read the book yet, I don't know if this is even relevant, but along the lines of contentment, we have inherited a motto of sorts from my wonderful father in law. He always says, "We don't have any problems money wouldn't solve." We consider that a good thing, as we think about what issues other brothers and sisters all over the world are facing. It just takes a little thought and stepping away from my own situation to get a lesson in contentment, it seems. But what a struggle it can sometimes be.
gina, that moto is difficult to understand. Does it mean (idealy), all our problems are trivial that could be fixed with money? I could not go around saying that moto. I have alot of problems and only a few are about money. And if I was married my problems would double. What is the meaning of this?
We have a lot of friends with problems that cannot be solved with money. Melanoma cancer, babies that are born with inoperable heart conditions, or preemies that are fighting for life and marriages that are on the rocks. I'm just saying that God has blessed us beyond measure. Even though we have problems, the severity seems to dim a little in the light of the suffering of others. Somehow when we see others struggling with really hard stuff, our problems of having lost a job or having to pay for our broken down minivan three times over in repairs, even medical expenses, and the price of gasoline do seem a little trivial. Instead of worrying about the future or complaining, we can hold our brothers up. We don't deserve the things we have in the first place, so when we are struggling with being content in our present situation, we say this to get our perspective back. Maybe motto is the wrong word. Anyway, I guess it just makes sense in the context of our life right now and I know it may not always be so.
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