There is something about snow and ice covered tree branches that I find simply beautiful. No, make that breathtaking! I just love the way the snow coats every inch of each tiny little branch. It is just so beautiful...in such a simple way.Thinking about the snow covered trees led me to think about contentment. It may seem like an odd pairing, but, really if you think about it a little deeper, it makes sense.
It is easy to see the beauty in the trees during Spring time, when the branches are covered in the new life of bright green leaves and buds. Or in the Autumn, when the trees are full of the colors of changing leaves. But in the Winter, it is all stark, cold, somewhat drab looking. There are no leaves, no pretty colors...just the naked tree branches standing alone against dreary Winter skies. And then the snow comes, and the scene is quite beautiful! Here, in Missouri, our weather often flips back and forth between arctic blasts and Southern mildness. One day we have a beautiful snow covered landscape, and it is gone the next (sometimes...or it may stick around for weeks, you just never know!) Anyway, this flip flop in weather often causes the snow to start to melt, and then to freeze yet again, and it leaves our trees looking as if they have been carefully hand-painted with snow. The rest of the scene starts to look drab again, half melted snow slush all around, gray skies, mud... Ah! But, the trees! How beautiful they are! I think many people pass by them, not noticing their simple beauty, but I find them to be breathtaking. I just have to stop and look at them, soak in their beauty, because I know it will be gone again soon enough. This afternoon as we were heading out to town for a bit, I stopped and took a few pictures. I am so glad that I did, because it was all melted away by the time we arrived home!What does all of this have to do with contentment? Well, I was thinking about how easy it is to feel happy when everything around us is going the way we'd like it to, or is just pleasant. Oh but it is so much harder to feel happy when the good things are less obvious. When life feels ho-hum, and the monotony begins to feel dreary, it is hard to radiate with joy. But, the Bible tells us in all things to be content.
Paul writes about feeling content when he is in the worst of circumstances. How can he feel content when he is facing death? How is it that we struggle with feeling content when in comparison, we are in really good circumstances?
"Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Philippians 4:11-12)
Paul is able to feel such contentment because his peace, his joy, did not depend on outside circumstances. His contentment came from God. I believe his focus was on things eternal, and not his present circumstances. He didn't need for it to be Springtime for him to see the beauty in God's plans and His creations. God's beauty is so remarkable that it can shine through on a cold, dreary Winter's day. We just need to open our eyes and look.
I really think that is the biggest problem most of us face. It's not that the beauty isn't there, it's simply that we refuse to see it. There's a sermon on the end of one of our favorite cd's where the minister talks about the railroad sign warning of stop, look and listen. We need to stop, and look and listen in our daily lives. Take a moment and notice the beauty of God's creations, and of His plans for you. What a glorious work He is doing!
Let us pray that we might always see the beauty around us, that we might always be content, whatever our circumstances, and that we may have true joy that comes from having such an eternal focus.In Christ's Love,
