8 Principles for a Joyful Life - #8

Well, we made it to #8! Thanks for reading, especially the longer principles.

Principle #8 is:

Embrace the Twin Pillars of Joy - Gratitude and Contentment

On January 5, 2010, the New York Daily News ran the following story:

HATE YOUR JOB? Join the club.

A new study shows only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their work - even in an economy where some feel lucky just to be employed. Job satisfaction in 2009 hit the lowest level ever recorded by the Conference Board research group in the 22 years they have been studying U.S. workers.

"Being stuck in a cubicle all day isn't fun," said Rosa, who lives in Astoria. I have to say that 90% of us are doing something that wasn't their first choice. Hopefully I'll find something else someday."

Contrast Rosa's comments with those of Yady Hannah, 50, who works for the Department of Education. She said she's just just glad to be working. "It pays the bills," she said. "Thank God I have one (job). In today's economy, we've got to be thankful for everything we have."

Whose attitude shouts contentment, Rosa's or Yady's?

How we view our circumstances determines how content we will be. Do we have a grateful attitude no matter what's going on in our lives, or do we have a "woe is me" attitude when the bottom falls out?

Matt Chandler, a 35 year old pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in north Texas, experienced a seizure on Thanksgiving Day. Eventually diagnosed with a brain tumor, Chandler had surgery to remove it. The malignant tumor had spread.

MSNBC.com featured Chandler in a story on January 31 titled "Brain Cancer Tests a Young Pastor's Faith." Listen to his attitude about the cancer.

Chandler is trying to suffer well. He would never ask for such a trial, but in some ways he welcomes this cancer. He says he feels grateful that God has counted him worthy to endure it. He has always preached that God will bring both joy and suffering but is only recently learning to experience the latter.

Chandler prays that God will heal him. He said he wants to grow old and walk his two daughters down the aisle. He wants to see his son play sports better than he ever did.

The story continues, Whatever happens, he says, is God's will, and God has his reasons. For Chandler, that does not mean waiting for his fate. It means fighting for his life.

So what does Chandler do when he's on a table at the hospital receiving his daily dose of chemo? The first day of treatment he "reflected on Colossians 1:15-23, about the pre-eminence of Christ and making peace through the blood of His cross."

Chandler's intimate relationship with Christ provides him with a grateful attitude at a time when many people would crater. Matt Chandler lives out 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says, Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

The apostle Paul also modeled gratefulness and contentment in the midst of trials. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas were severely flogged and thrown into prison. What did they do? They prayed and sang hymns to God! (v. 23) After God miraculously set them free from prison, they went to Lydia's house and met with the brothers. They must have in great pain from the severe flogging, but rather than focusing on themselves, they "encouraged the brothers."

Paul gives us the secret to adapting to any circumstance in our lives. Listen to Philippians 4:11b-13.

For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. 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 everything through Him who gives me strength.

Paul learned to be content, which means it didn't come to him naturally. Do you think that being shipwrecked, stoned, put in prison, persecuted, and slandered had anything to do with him learning contentment and gratefulness? I believe this is how Paul developed his confidence in Christ. As God took him through different trials, Paul's faith deepened until he embodied Philippians 4:13.

I love the synonyms for "content": satisfied, gratified, pleased, glad, sunny, cheerful. To be discontented means to be petulant, cranky, annoyed, vexed, exasperated, angry, dissatisfied. Yuck! Reading the definition of discontented pulls me out of an ungrateful attitude.

Listening to my pre-school grandson pray must make God smile. He thanks God not only for the food, but also for his mommy and daddy, Grammy and PawPaw, his brother and sister, his pillow and bed, the dishes, the grass, and anything else that comes to mind. How God must love it when we tell Him how grateful we are not just for His physical provisions, but most of all for our salvation. The joy of my salvation cancels out the constant physical pain and fatigue I live with. God chose me to be His child! My heart sings with joy at the thought of someday living in heaven with Him and experiencing His perfect love face-to-face.

Rick Warren compared life to train tracks. Rather than experiencing hills and valleys, we will always have things to be joyful about alongside the tough times. Things are never all bad or all good. During difficult times, it is good to thank God for even the grass, our bed, the dishes, and the relationships God has blessed us with.

Henri Nouwen, a highly educated Catholic priest who laid aside his prestigious career to work with physically and developmentally delayed adults, said this about gratefulness:

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say "thank you" to all that has brought us to the present moment. . . Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.Henri J. M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey (HarperOne, 1996), p. 12

I pray that we will examine our hearts and honestly evaluate our attitudes for signs of ungratefulness and discontent. Let's count the multitue of blessings from our Father and rejoice over His goodness to us. As Zig Ziglar says, "We need to live with an attitude of gratitude!"