Paul Tripp on Contentment

So you think your life sucks? What if you were walking down the sidewalk, minding your own business, when suddenly you got run over by an SUV and nearly killed? This is what happened to Paul Tripp's daughter recently, and he recently shared some great thoughts on contentment:

Real contentment isn't produced by external circumstances, but from attitudes of the heart. If you need life to be a certain way in order to be content, you won't experience contentment very often. True contentment is the result of gratitude and real gratitude is the result of humility. When you begin to realize that everyday you receive much more blessing than you could ever deserve, you are able to be content even in situations that you would have never chosen. When you are able to see that even in the darkest of moments there are things for which to be thankful, then you are able to experience contentment mixing with pain. When purposes that are larger then your own momentary happiness are what capture your heart and structure your activity, you are able to be content even when things aren't going your way.

I'd highly recommend you read the whole thing (especially if you'd like to know more about how Nicole Tripp is progressing in her recovery) Also, here's some background on the accident.

The easy thing, of course, is to be thankful this hasn't happened to you, and to pray for young Nicole. At the same time, perhaps we might be better served by stopping to ponder our own contentedness - how would you respond if you were Nicole? If you were her father? What kind of faith rests unshaken in the midst of adversity, content with - even blessing! - God in the face of hardship and disaster? That's the kind of faith I long for. What about you?

(HT: PalmTree Pundit)