Greener Grass

Last Sunday I was sitting out on my patio watching my kids run through the sprinkler to cool off. Where I live it is already heating up into summertime temperatures! I sat and listened to their shrieks of delight. It was a beautiful picture of childhood. And that’s when this pesky though crept into my mind; you really need a pool to be truly happy. This sprinkler is lame. Lots of people have pools. Look at what God has given you, your ‘blessings’…they are not very good.

Nice huh?

And then my little thought tirade continued, now moving from what the enemy whispered to my own thoughts. “Look at this yard. It’s SO small. I hate how tiny it is. I want, no…I need property. I’d be happy and content if we lived out in the country. My kids could run and play uninhibited. But we can’t afford to buy property…ugh.”

So now I’m sitting on my patio blind to the amazing that is in front of me. Blind, and now my heart is “chained up” in discontentment. 5 minutes ago I was free and just like that I forgot that I have the authority in Christ to walk in freedom. And I let the enemy tie me up.

Friends, we are in the middle of a war, and your heart is the prize. We have an enemy and he uses discontentment as a weapon to capture our hearts. And you know what, it’s very effective.

Discontentment as a weapon

With a few whispered lies and thoughts, my wandering heart forgets the joy before me. I just plain old forget how amazing he has been to me. How far he has brought me. How richly he has blessed me. How green the grass that I have really is! As I sat there last Sunday He so gently reminded me. I love that about him. No condemnation for my wandering, forgetful heart…just grace to remember.

5 years ago we moved here to this house. Before that, I spent 4 years living on the side of a mountain where it snowed 8 months of the year, had temperatures in the negatives regularly, and was 2 hours from the nearest Target! We were way out, living on a camp in Colorado’s backcountry. Our home had no yard and no grassy area for my little ones to run and play, and I prayed countless prayers  begging God to allow me to move. As beautiful as it was there, all I wanted was to live where it was warm again, in a neighborhood, with grass in my backyard for my kids to play on! When we moved here, I remember dropping to my knees{on this beautiful green grass} in tears over his goodness. All my wants had been given to me by him. My heart was overwhelmed by how he had blessed me. The picture I was looking at last Sunday, as I enjoyed our beautiful shaded patio, with my kids healthy and happily running through a sprinkler {in May while my Colorado friends were getting another snow storm!!}… that picture is nothing short of exactly what I had hoped and prayed for! And yet, how easily I think it’s not good enough. How quickly I fall into the trap of thinking I need more to be content…

We need to remember how far our God has brought us. We need to recount His goodness.  And fight against discontent. Friends, we’ve got to fight hard!  I have found a simple way to fight back against those sneaky thoughts that the enemy whispers. I have a verse, a snippet of God’s word that I say back at those thoughts. “He has loved me with an everlasting love.”{Jeremiah 31:3} I even like to say it out loud. I know, it seems a tiny bit crazy…but for me, speaking God’s truth out loud strengthens me and sends the enemy fleeing.  And something simple{yet powerful} helps too. He’s blessed me immeasurably in a lot of areas, but nothing compares to the way He loves me. I find that the chains of discontentment dissolve when I think about His everlasting love.

Will you fight with me? Will you walk in freedom with me? Let’s find freedom for our families because we choose to be content with what we have. Let’s find freedom for our marriages, because we celebrate the spouse we have. And freedom for our hearts as we remember all He has done for us!

-Kallie