More Faith Please

This past Sunday, I lost my cell phone.  The last place I remember having it was at the grocery store after church.  Since then, I looked EVERYWHERE for it.  I called it over and over, searched my house, my car, my office at LIFE, even went to the grocery store and all the neighbouring stores to ask if anyone had turned anything in.  Nothing.

I talked about this on the radio two days ago, and got lots of helpful calls and tips...but still, no phone.  Then a friend emailed me this:

Tim, I know someone who knows where your phone is......

God does!!!!!!....He will show you!

I saw the first line of that email and I was so elated!  Finally, someone who knows where my phone is!  Then I saw the second line...and I wasn't too happy.  In fact, I was irritated.  I thought, Urg, I know God knows where my phone is!  But a lot of times I pray and nothing happens, so is He really going to bring my phone around?  Besides, I've looked everywhere in my house, I can't hear it vibrating, and it's two days later and no one has turned  it in.  So let's face it.  It's lost.  And I was literally 100% sure nothing would happen.

A couple of hours later I was sitting in my office and I thought, "Okay, I really should pray.  My friend is actually right."  (I had been praying about it since Sunday, but not as intentionally as I decided to do it at that moment.)  So I prayed then, and when I got home from work, I talked to my wife and mentioned the email, and we prayed again, intentionally.

That evening, my wife walked past our couch and stepped on something that was under it...and lo and behold, the phone!!!  I could not believe it.  I couldn't believe that it was in my house.  I couldn't believe that we'd actually found it.  And I couldn't believe that God actually heard our prayer and brought it to us.  I felt so much joy...and a bit of shame for not trusting God to answer my prayer.

It served as a great reminder for me that yes, God is in control, and yes, He does care - even about the small things.  I actually have something else in my life that I'm a bit nervous about right now, so this phone incident has served as a reminder of God's presence, and because of that presence, I have a lot more peace.

I hope this helps you out if you're nervous about something.  Pray!  God does care!

Contentment

I've been wresting with this issue for the past few years...actually probably all my life.  What is contentment?  What does it mean to be content?  Is there a certain level where we should all be content?  Is there a different level of contentment from person to person?  (This discussion is specifically about finances.)

Let's start in the bible.  Philippians 4:11-12, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

Paul clearly was content.  Despite being shipwrecked multiple times, beaten, whipped, starving, on the run, cold, imprisoned, etc., he was content (1 Corinthians 11:23-28 for Paul's struggles).  He had God, he lived for God, and that's all that mattered.

Now in the 21st century, is the same?  Can we be that content through all circumstances?

Let me elabourate a bit.  If you make enough money to pay your bills, put food on the table, and stay out of debt (with wise budgeting and spending), but you can't afford to put your kids in swimming/skating/music lessons, you can't afford to go on vacation, and there are no extra frills in life...should you be content in the fact that your bills are paid and "that's good enough"?  Is it okay to want more money to do the things mentioned above?

What about if you can't even pay your bills?  The point where you are relying on God to meet your daily needs, and help you pay your bills at the end of the month?  Is it okay to want more then?  Or should you rest in the fact that God is providing for you and "that's good enough"?

Then there's the other end of the spectrum - you make enough money to pay your bills, and then some.  You can take a vacation each year, put your kids in sports, fix up your car, go out to dinner once in a while, etc...  Is that contentment?

There are missionaries who have nothing and yet are the happiest people you'll ever meet.  And there are wealthy individuals who have everything, and yet have nothing.

I know that the answer is God.  We find our contentment in God and not in worldly things.  Yes, thank you.  Good Sunday School answer...that is annoying but true haha.  But I guess the question comes down to this - when is it okay to want things?  If someone is in one of the first two scenarios, is it wrong to want more money so that you can live a little bit more comfortably, or so that you can give good things to your kids?  I can't imagine that there's anything wrong with that.  And yet by wanting more, does that mean that we're not thankful for what God has already given us, and not trusting Him for the rest?

I don't know.  I see both sides.  What I do know is that we should be content in all circumstances.  The 'want' part is where I'm confused.  Any help is welcome.