Praise to God, alone!

Today, from Spurgeon's Morning & Evening:
"I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content."
- Phi. 4:11

These words show us that contentment is not a natural propensity of man. "Ill weeds grow apace." Covetousness, discontent, and murmuring are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. We need not sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth: and so, we need not teach men to complain; they complain fast enough without any education. But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we would have wheat, we must plough and sow; if we want flowers, there must be the garden, and all the gardener’s care.

Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated; it will not grow in us by nature; it is the new nature alone that can produce it, and even then we must be specially careful and watchful that we maintain and cultivate the grace which God has sown in us.

Paul says, "I have learned ... to be content;" as much as to say, he did not know how at one time.
It cost him some pains to attain to the mystery of that great truth. No doubt he sometimes thought he had learned, and then broke down. And when at last he had attained unto it, and could say, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content," he was an old, grey-headed man, upon the borders of the grave-a poor prisoner shut up in Nero’s dungeon at Rome. We might well be willing to endure Paul’s infirmities, and share the cold dungeon with him, if we too might by any means attain unto his good degree.

Do not indulge the notion that you can be contented with learning, or learn without discipline. It is not a power that may be exercised naturally, but a science to be acquired gradually. We know this from experience. Brother, hush that murmur, natural though it be, and continue a diligent pupil in the College of Content.

Not that I have attained it either, but I praise God I am learning! I too want to be a diligent pupil in the College of Content.

What a huge lesson this past month has been for me. My son, once thought lost to me, has announced his decision to return. Praise God. He still has that plight deemed "teen-age-hood". Only God knows his heart. Please continue to pray. Please continue to pray for a malleable heart towards God. And, please pray for Frank and me as we work out all the underpinnings and maneuver through the logic of this almost seventeen year old mind.

Pray for us that we will continue to wait on God. Pray we will show grace and mercy. Pray for healing, understanding and open, free communication.

Prayer continues to be my steady companion. May I be co-dependent upon the Holy Spirit (probably the one instance co-dependency is a positive thing!).

I love You, Lord.

(P.S. Yes, this means he is returning to Calvary & Youth Group. It is amazing in that there was no nagging, pleading or coercion from us. This decision literally came out of the blue (to us, not God). Though the waiting and biting my tongue was endlessly a chore...it was well worth it. God be praised!)