Friday, July 25
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
—Hebrews 13:5
Sometimes we
think that the possessions that we buy will give us that satisfaction and
fulfillment. Sometimes we think the distractions our money affords will offer a
retreat from the stress and struggles of our lives. Sometimes we think money can
buy us the prestige and honor that will give us an edge in life.
In our search for the satisfaction and
fulfillment that are outside of us, we lose sight of the possibility of
contentment in the very situation in which we find ourselves. We mistakenly
think that if we escape what is, contentment will descend on us like a soft
feather cloud.
Yet, it is not escape into something else that leads us to that space of satisfaction and fulfillment. It is accepting what is, and knowing that in the midst of what is, we are not alone. When we can set aside our desire for what money can buy us, we have the possibility of discovering the buried treasure of God’s great presence that is just waiting to be uncovered by the hungry fingers of our soul.
O God, let me find in your presence that stillness and contentment that feeds my soul as surely as the sun feeds young flowers that are beginning to open their petals.
The Signposts for July are written by Renée Miller and originally appeared on explorefaith.org in 2004.