Be Content With What The Lord Provides – As All He Provides Is Good & Perfect

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘<God said to Jeremiah,>”I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”’ (Jeremiah 31:25)

I am a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who happen to have a future Hall-of-Fame coach in Mike Tomlin, one who has never had a losing season in his 18 seasons.  The Steelers have not had very many losing seasons since they made the playoffs for the first time in their history back in 1972, and those losing seasons were not the ‘rock-bottom’ losing seasons as other teams have experienced.  The success that comes with winning six Super Bowls, only equaled by the New England Patriots.

But with all that overwhelming success comes with an overwhelming frustration by the fanbase.  Though the Steelers have consistently won for the last fifty years, with the most wins (524) for any NFL team since 1970, the team has experienced a drought of playoff wins, since 2016 it has been a ‘one and done’ in the playoffs.  While other teams’ fans would relish such success over a prolonged period, there is no satisfaction with the Steelers’ fanbase as there is an expectation to play for championships, every year. 

However, what do the fans contribute to their franchises, other than moral support (and merchandise sales)?  There is no acknowledgement of the work involved in the competition to have good players achieve to perform at peak levels for a consistent period.  When a team has been winning for so long, their draft picks are always much lower, the coaching staff under Tomlin rotates more often as other teams hire them away. 

There is also inside knowledge why certain key players are let go, while others are kept; why some players that are free agents are pursued while others that may seem to be good fits are ignored.  The fans should, but don’t, acknowledge that the owner, the coach and the general manager know better than them what the team is seeking for talent, and what weaknesses need strengthened.

Sometimes we Christians are like the fickle fans of the NFL.  We often fall into the mindset, though we may not say it out loud, into thinking, ‘why isn’t God taking care of this, or helping me?’  We think it’s a glaring issue and believe we know how to resolve it, while wondering why God is allowing the issue to continue.  It can be health-related, or politically-induced.  We grow frustrated though the track record of God is and always will be perfect in what is done, according to His plan.

God brings satisfaction to those who believe in His son, Jesus and accept and follow Him as their Lord and Savior, living for Him not only in words but in actions as well.  This is one of God’s if/then statements, however.  To gain satisfaction and contentment from God one must first acknowledge that God is the One True and Triune God, with God the Father having the Power over all things, God the Son being God Manifested so to walk among us, and God the Spirit to indwell within us.  In Jeremiah 29, we find that the Israelites were given much but never satisfied, a mirror image of Genesis in the Garden of Eden where Adam & Eve had everything that they needed, but they were not satisfied and wanted the one thing – the only thing – that they could not have, the fruit of the Knowledge Tree. 

Nevertheless, God tells the Israelites, as they are being led into exile for their disobedience, that God has plans for them, and a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).  The Israelites will turn back toward God to be His (Jeremiah 30:22, 31:1), and He will provide eternal satisfaction and refreshment (Jeremiah 31:25).  God gave this all on one condition, there will be an ‘unbreakable covenant’ (Jeremiah 31:31) which is His provision of Christ to fulfill the Law and become our way for Salvation.  IF we accept Jesus, THEN and only THEN will we become satisfied.  Be content with having the Lord, as nothing in this world will ever be able to do that for eternity.