Contentment + Yearning

As believers living in a sinful world, we must learn two things: proper contentment and proper yearning. These two ideas—contentment and yearning—seem to disagree with each other. How can one be content with his lot in life while he is yearning for something more? Yet this is what we must do!

Our yearning must be for God alone. Jesus longed to be reunited with His Father, for the earth was not His home. What is my desire? Do I yearn to enter the presence of my Savior? Are my thoughts centered around the eternity that I will spend with the Father? One day I will enter His presence and see the glory of the Godhead—but until then, what shall I do? Shall I while away the remaining hours by gazing out my window and wondering why God is taking so long to call me into His presence? Absolutely not! 

That is where contentment comes in. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). No, the world is not my home! But it is where God has placed me for the time being so that I can bring honor and glory to Him. I must be content to live the life of holiness He has called me to until He chooses to take me to my eternal home. So then, I must learn to yearn for God’s presence, but to find contentment in knowing and serving God in this world.