Session 12

Stop your pining

From Ecclesiastes: A 20-Day Devotional

Being content is not always easy. Our homes are clean and decorated, but Pinterest has so many new ideas! We have closets full of clothes, but they are all last season. There’s a guy with a bigger and louder truck or a gym member who can lift more weights. When we start pining for what others have instead of appreciating and celebrating what we have, we begin chasing an unattainable satisfaction, an “I’ve arrived” moment that Solomon calls meaningless and compares to chasing after the wind.

Discontentment and jealousy are sins, and if we let them, they will consume us. Ecclesiastes 6:7 says, “Everyone's toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.” When we’re consumed with jealousy, we waste the blessings we do have wanting the things we don’t have. After all, if we don’t enjoy what we have, how can we expect to see the blessing in what God intends to give us in His perfect timing?

God has good things planned for the rest of our lives. 

God already has good things planned for the rest of our lives. We don’t have to waste a lifetime striving for more. Proverbs 23:4 (NET) says, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.” There is rest when we enjoy the prosperity God has given us. So let’s take time today to thank God for every good thing we’ve been given.

Reflect:

What good things has God given to you? Make a list and thank Him for them. Put the list where you can go back to it and add to it often.
What are you jealous of? What have you been pining for? Ask God to change your perspective about those things and replace your desire with contentment in what He has already given you.