I was sitting at the kitchen table with my four-year-old granddaughter when she looked at me and asked, “Mimi why do you have nose hair and I don’t?”
Unsure of why she was interested in nose hair I replied, “Well, I’m pretty sure you do, you just can’t see yours.
“But why can I see yours?” she asked.
“Umm…. maybe because my nose is bigger? I really don’t know,” I said, growing a bit self-conscious. Exactly how long was my nose hair that it could generate this conversation? I began to wonder.
As I fought the urge to run to the closest mirror and check what was happening with my nose she let out a sigh and said, “But I really, really want to have nose hair.” Folding her arms across the table and laying her head on them she — with gloom in her voice — said, “When can I ever have nose hair?” Letting out a laugh I realized her eyes were fixated on something I had and she didn’t – yet.
Waiting
Yet. Hearing the word should make it easier to wait, don’t you think? When we know with certainty we’re going to acquire the object of our longing, we wait it out. We might be forced into waiting and – we don’t always wait well.
Sometimes it’s hard to follow the instructions of the Hebrew writer to “be content with such things as you have” when you’re waiting for yet to arrive (Hebrews 13:5). I’ve been guilty of allowing my eyes to roam in the direction of others who have what I perceive to be lacking. Whether it is materially, physically, intellectually, spiritually or emotionally I’ve found myself lost in thought wondering when can I ever have? When will it be my turn? When is my “yet” arriving? I’ve had moments of not waiting well for the yet.
Be Content
I’ve learned to recognize when sneaky thoughts of lack begin to open the door to envy within my heart. (However, I think it is safe to say I’ve never once been envious of another’s nose hair.) Learning to be content with such things as I have begins with choosing to rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15) and heeding all of Hebrews 13:5, “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.’”(NKJV). “You shall not covet” even made God’s top 10list.
Don’t want what others have. Don’t love money. Be content with what you have.
Paul suggested contentment was learned behavior when he told the Philippian church he had “learned to be content regardless of my circumstances” (4:11). The Amplified Bible includes this sweet instruction, “and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy.”
Be Satisfied
I become “Satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy” when I choose to find my self-sufficiency in Christ and hold fast to His promise that He would “never leave nor forsake” me. It’s when I take my eyes off of Him and place them on me – or others – that I find myself struggling with impatience or worse: envy.
As we welcome this New Year into our lives I pray we will allow the Lord to move through this year at His speed. Accepting His gifts, in His time, and in His way.
Let’s allow Him to change our identity – one letter at a time – patiently as we find our contentment in Christ. After all, “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” ― Leo Tolstoy
Remember: yet will arrive. Even if it is in the form of nose hair.
#BeYou
S-Satisfied with what you have.
Visit Kolleen’s website for more inspiration and encouragement: http://www.speakkolleen.com/
Kolleen is the author of the devotional book, The ABC’s of Who God Says I Am.
