Trinity Grace:

I must confess. . . . Sometimes I wish I were born in a different generation.

I wish I could have defended the gospel in the Protestant Reformation. I wish I could have signed the Declaration of Independence. I wish I could have preached the gospel during the Second Great Awakening. I wish I could have stormed the beaches of Normandy. I wish I could have lived through the Jesus Movement & all the wonderful things the Lord was doing then.

I wish I could have lived in a different generation & in different circumstances.

Why? Because life seemed so clear & purposeful in those days.

Unlike today.

Where we work on the never-ending line at the local manufacturer. Where we provide healthcare to a continuously full waiting room. Where we do load after load of laundry, only to find a few more loads waiting. Where we just barely inch by each month with little change. Where we fall asleep to the same old TV shows & wake up to the same old troubles.

Gradually, these things begin to wear on us & we long to live in different days & in different circumstances.

Interestingly, the Bible consistently teaches that contentment is only found when you give yourself completely to the circumstances you’re in.

1 Corinthians 7 tells us life is ordered carefully & purposefully by God’s plan. Verse 17 says, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, & to which God has called him.” Verse 24 adds, “…in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.”

Life unfolds as the Lord assigns.

Much like a teacher lays out assignments for those in her classroom, so too the Lord assigns us a place to live & things to do for him. It is right here—right where we are right now with all its inconveniences & troubles—where God is & has called us to remain with him.

Joy & purpose in life is not found outside our present circumstances but in them.

So, I want us to give ourselves completely to where we are. To put on waders & have the hard conversations we’ve been putting off. To do the chores we don’t like. To love the people that are our neighbors, not the ones we wish were our neighbors. To find friends who don’t just tell us what we want to hear. To take up the problems around us as if they were our own.

Jeremiah Burroughs, in his wonderful little book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, wrote, “I know of nothing more effective for quieting a Christian soul & getting contentment than this, setting your heart to work in the duties of the immediate circumstances that you are now in.”

That’s incredible. Nothing more effective!

I keep the apostle Paul’s example from Acts 27–28. On the way to Rome, none of his circumstances were ideal for someone called to preach the gospel. He was in chains & unable to preach where he wanted, yet the Lord used him in a powerful way. He gave himself to where he was. He became the leader of the ship, giving guidance to the sailors & Roman officials. He guided 276 people safely to shore. Once shipwrecked, he visited many & healed many on the island of Malta.

Let us give ourselves completely to where we are—trusting that when we do, we will find the joy & purpose we long for.

Grace & peace,

Walt