Being full

“I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”
Phillipians 4:12 (The Message)
Last Friday we were visiting some friends at their ranch in South Texas. We drove down on Thursday night and had so much fun laughing and talking that I just figured I’d post the winner of the Caption Contest giveaway early Friday morning.
It was a beautiful plan except for the fact that some severe storms rolled through the area and we lost the satellite internet connection. We had to spend the rest of the day without the internet just like we were pioneers.
And on a side note, it’s amazing to me how frustrated I can get with technology that doesn’t work. Never mind that man just figured out how to land on the moon forty years ago, why can’t the satellite in space make my computer work during a lightning storm?
The good news is that my cell phone continued to work so I was able to receive a call from the auto mechanic letting me know that my car was ready to be picked up and the amount that we owed for the repairs.
It was not a small number.
Once I received the call, I let myself fall into the worst mood. We are just in this season of life where we can’t get ahead. Every time we turn around there is an unexpected expense that sets us back and it just makes me feel so frustrated.
Then I realized that my struggle isn’t about the money or the provision, it’s about contentment. God has provided what we need. We had the money in the bank to pay for the repairs, which is a huge blessing in this economy.
My frustration wasn’t about not having enough, it was about wanting more. It was about wanting to go spend that money on some new jeans or a cute pair of shoes, as opposed to some new brake pads and a flux capacitor or whatever.
When I felt that small, still voice whisper to me that He has given us what we need, He has blessed us beyond what we deserve, I felt shallow and ungrateful.
I had my eyes fixed on all the “more” that I want and took my eyes off the “One who makes me who I am”.
And when I re-focused, my eyes opened to all the blessings I take for granted. All of a sudden, my hands that had seemed empty became very full.