Contentment: Part 2

It's early morning, and I'm still wrapped in the covers of my bed enjoying my rest.  But I'm expecting somebody, and He should be here soon.  Oh, there He is now, knocking on my heart's door once more, eager for me to get up and spend the day with Him.  He is never late.

I rub the sleep from my eyes and walk to the door, stumbling over something or other in the darkness of the shaded windows. I open the door and the room is suddenly flooded with light and warmth.  He enters.  He wears a smile so beautiful and comforting as He wraps His arms round me in a loving embrace, lifting me in the air for a moment.

I laugh.  My heart is flooded with joy as I return the favor.  He pushes me back from himself and looks me over.  His eyes, mysteriously deep and capturing, speak of His great love for me and indicate that He is even now pondering the wondrous plans He has for my life; and His heart dances with joy, delighting in the hope of their fulfillment.

He firmly grips my shoulder with His right hand, and as I gaze into His mysterious eyes, a deep, satisfying peace washes over my spirit.  It begins in the pit of my stomach, first burning as a coal then washing as a river it spreads throughout my entire body.  I close my eyes and take a deep breath.  I feel whole.  I am restored by His gaze and touch.

Mind you, He has not spoken one word to me, and yet He has lifted my spirit to the highest of heights, has shone the warm sunlight of His love, which radiates from His face, on my spirit, and has given my soul a deep, deep peace - a rest in fact - that fills my whole body, conquering all insecurities and doubts, and overflowing from my mouth in a long exhalation.

He pats me on the back, starts toward the door, and beckons me to follow as He begins His trek up a dirt road.  I follow.  Yes, I follow; and the very act is a microcosm of my life, which has been played out in moments like these, step by step.  He is there right in front of me.  And as I quicken my pace to match His confident stride, He is right here next to me.

Authority in its fullest sense is emanating from His every step.  As I closely observe Him in His authoritative countenance and His joyful radiance, trying not to miss the minutest of details, confidence in Him is being formed and made full within me.  I trust my Savior.  But more than that I love Him.   A love that has been inspired by His loving me first.

He continues on the dirt path towards some hills in the distance which overlook a village.  He comes to these types of places often.  He is very fond of the high places of His creation.

We finally crest the highest of the surrounding hills, the one which gives us a direct view of the village.  Although the beauty of nature that is all around us is extraordinary, especially on this particular day, His focus is elsewhere.  He is not considering the breathtaking view; instead He is observing the inhabitants of the village below, peering into their hearts; and His heart is deeply grieved, as it has been many a time, by their sinfulness.  They have spurned His love again and again.  And as I look over at Him, I see His compassion for His people - His children and friends - materialize in the form of a tear that rolls down His cheek.  Oh, how He longs to gather this people as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings (Matthew 23:37).  

My eyes also begin to well up with tears.  As I've have been with Him, studied Him, talked with Him, and been a direct recipient of this compassion that has now trickled down His face and fallen into the dust, I have begun to learn and experience - even if to the slightest degree - the great weight of lost people that burdens Him, and His overwhelming desire to see them set free from their bondage and step forth to live with Him in the light.

He begins to descend the hill towards the village.  I follow at His side.  After reaching the bottom of the hill, He starts to move in the direction of a group of children playing tag in the morning sun just outside the village. I am but a few paces behind Him now.  The children catch sight of Him before He reaches them, and as a group they sprint toward Him.  They mob Him, shouting with delight, some wrapping their arms around His waist and legs and others jumping up onto His back and front, clinging to Him.  He nearly falls but manages to keep His balance, laughing all the while.  As they finally loose their grip He spies a little girl that hadn't quite made it to the mobbing and covers the last few steps to her, picking her up and swinging her about.  She laughs, her face lighting up with joy.

The group of children finally settle down, and He makes His way to a nice, grassy opening and has the children gather around Him on the ground.

Here is where He stays all morning and most of the afternoon, with the children, telling them story after story of the men of old - David, Enoch, and the prophets.  As He tells each story I observe the faces of the little ones, which are sometimes filled with wonder, other times with sadness, and still other times with great joy.

As the sun begins to fall across the western sky He calls me to Him, telling me to bring the bread and juice I had carried with me from the house.   As I break the bread into pieces, hand the pieces out to the children and fill their cups with juice, I am acutely aware of a sense of destiny and purpose; or  more exactly, a sense of the fulfillment of my destiny and purpose.  Here, in this village, as I serve children food and drink, I'm vibrant with peace, joy, and...contentment.  Yes, deep unshakable, undeniable contentment.

I gaze over at Him.  He is smiling as he watches the children consume the bread and wash it down with the juice.  I close my eyes and silently thank Him, for He was the reason I knew contentment as I would a good friend.  He introduced me to contentment, teaching me to go down in order to go up; telling me to give up everything so that I might truly gain it; showing me how to die in order to live .

As the children finish their snack we say our goodbyes and start home.  When we are half way up the hill I glance back and catch sight of some of the parents of the children at the edge of the village, staring back at us disapprovingly.  I knew that He had also noticed them from the slightly saddened expression on His face.  I looked over at Him and said,"If only they had the faith of their children."  He nodded slightly and replied," Yes, indeed.  But these people's hearts are dull.  They scarcely hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts and return, and I would heal them."

After we had arrived back at my house, He turned to me; and putting His hands on both my shoulders He said, "What I tell in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. For the days are evil, and the time is coming when you shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. You are my witness, an ambassador of the Gospel. Therefore confess Me before men and I will confess you before My Father who is in heaven. And always be on the alert!"


This said, He turned and started down the road. When He had gone out of sight, I went inside and wrote down this paragraph in my journal:

He is what sustains me. My Father, He is God.  I have entrusted him with my heart and it couldn't be in better hands.  He is more than enough for me.  He is my all in all.  He has painted my selfhood with sonship and has adorned the essence of my being with the beauty of His grace.  He makes all things beautiful. In Him - and in Him only - there is true contentment.  Many a man has wasted His life scouting the hills of success and searching the caves of pleasure for contentment.  As for me I will abide in Him;  I will search His heart and there I will dwell and know Him and be content, because He is all I seek.  One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple.