Detours and Contentment

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:34

There’s an old saying that goes, “A contented man is the one who enjoys the scenery along the detours.” We usually think of detours as interruptions in an otherwise well-charted path. True, detours can be viewed as problems which slow us down (we learned that yesterday). However, sometimes the detour doesn’t involve problems, but people. In order to build contentment, God places people in our path; but God never considers people as interruptions.

For instance, my 84-year-old mother once came to California to visit Ken and me. Arthritis and a heart condition had shortened my mother’s stride, so I set aside all the deadlines, the demanding appointments, and the commitments screaming for my undivided attention in order to keep in step with her. She wasn’t an interruption; she was more important than all my commitments stacked together.

For those few weeks, I was on a “detour.” But I enjoyed the scenery along the way. That said something for me! I live with my wheelchair in high gear. The way I figured it, the staff meetings and production schedules would worry about themselves. Over those weeks, I measured my days more slowly. The secret of being content is to take one day at a time. Not five years or ten, but one day. Like the manna that fell fresh from heaven each morning, God supplies the needs of his children with the dawning of each day. “… his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23).

Bill Gothard has said, “Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have. It is realizing that God has already given me everything I need for my present happiness.” My 84-year-old mother is my reminder of this wonderful truth. What person has God placed in your life to remind you to be content?