17 March, Sunday — A Different Point of View

5th Sunday of Lent

Jer 31:31-34
Heb 5:7-9
Jn 12:20-33

‘Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered’

I often wonder what I would ask a genie for if I were granted three wishes. In my younger days, I would probably have wanted wealth, success, and fame. Yet now, there is really only one thing that I desire that encompasses what an infinite number of wishes can provide. Contentment.

Contentment brings with it the peace and security of feeling that our present situation is enough. We could be wealthy and have good health but still be unhappy. We could be in a room full of people and still feel lonely. When looking into the future – the year ahead, or even tomorrow may be filled with so much uncertainty that outcomes remain thoroughly unpredictable.

A lot of our discontentment comes from the influences around us. We look at our family and friends and compare their lives with others. Social media also presents skewed portrayals of people’s circumstances and make us wish for changes in ours.

Sometimes, it takes a bad situation to put things into perspective. It is only when someone loses his job, that he realises that it was better to be employed in a less than ideal role than to be jobless. It is only when someone is sick, that he realises how he wasted his good health previously.

If we can see the positive aspects of each day and lead simpler lives, we will create more capacity to savour what God has planned for us. If we are hurriedly chasing milestones and achievements, we will never be content as that will be our state of being.

Instead, let us let the past inform us, the future comfort us, and the present be seen as what it truly is — a present from God to enjoy our brief time on earth.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Gregory Mathew) 

Prayer: We ask you Lord, to give us gratitude for what we have in our lives now. May we not be too ambitious or greedy in chasing after things that are not in your plan for us.

Thanksgiving: We are grateful for our present life circumstances, whatever they may be. Thank you for using them to teach us important lessons on what it means to be a true disciple of Christ.