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As I read the wrap up section for “Surprisingly Satisfied” in The Resolution for Women, I was captured by what Priscilla said here:
By choosing contentment, you’re not getting rid of your desires, you’re just demanding that they assume an appropriate, humble position in your life, not bossing you around like a tyrannical dictator forcing you to submit to his ever-growing and ever-changing list of demands.
It means you no longer allow your yearnings and aspirations to control you, to rob from you the full use of and gratitude for what you’ve currently been given, leaving you unable to enjoy this because He hasn’t seen fit to give you that. pg. 29
I also want to add: allow yourself into a place where His desires become your desires. Because ultimately that is the goal And if we rest in His desires, contentment will naturally follow. We’ll be content because we know we are in a place God wants us and we are resting in Him and submitting to Him.
When we gripe and complain, ultimately, we are telling God we aren’t happy with where He has put us, and really, we know better than He does. Yikes! I certainly don’t want that. I am not the Potter. I am the clay. He molds me–not the other way around.
At the bottom of that same page, Priscilla says this:
It’s a balance. A holy equilibrium. A genuine gratitude for what the day brings, all the while maintaining a controlled anticipation for what tomorrow may offer.
That’s the safe, healthy place where contentment allows you to take root and take up residence. Instead of being manipulated by unrestrained discontent… {emphasis mine}
I disagree with these statements. Let me explain why.
First off, Jesus and His ways are the balance we are looking for; seeking Him first and allowing everything else to fall where it should. We cannot be fully satisfied in Him and have a set of our own desires over here, that we are anticipating.
We are encouraged to be content in all situations and to not worry about tomorrow. Allowing even a controlled sense of “anticipation” or being discontent as long as it’s “restrained” is still discontentment. We are to be content in all things. I believe allowing just a door crack is enough for our flesh to stick it’s foot in the door of this “unrestrained discontent” so it can slowly widen the gap.
No. We want to keep that door shut and remain fully focused on the now, and not allow any bit of dissatisfaction, whether controlled or otherwise. It’s still dissatisfaction.
The balancing point is Jesus and resting in what He has for us–not anticipating the next thing. It’s the only way to be fully in the moment; fully where we are now. 
This section wraps up the first resolution in the book: Surprisingly Satisfied.
You can read about the first parts here:
Finding Contentment in the Now
Announcements
A couple of announcements I want to bring to your attention.
Joyful Mothering will be closed for Christmas. Any posts that go up from now on are pre-scheduled {hence, already written}. You may see me laying low. I’m going to be working on some writing, a new project, and re-designing the blog. Woot! So, if you see my design disappear, do not be alarmed. It’s quite normal! I’ll be revealing the new design January 2nd, when I return to blogging.
Today is the last day to get the What’s in the Bible bundle with standard shipping, in order to receive it by Christmas. This is a wonderful deal, even with the shipping and handling charges.
Finally, we are doing the 31 Days to Clean challenge on Facebook. So be sure to pick up your book if you are interested in joining us, and do not own it yet. You can find out all the details of that on the Facebook event page. Let us know if you’ll be there!
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I agree Christin! God convicted me of this awhile ago. I had always planned on doing foreign missions full time and then got married and had a baby and felt “stuck” at home. I am now trying to fully focus on how the Lord wants me to minister here and now. First to my family and then to others in whatever way He leads. Thank you for the encouragement!
I am a new reader to your blog, and I love it! But I just wanted to chime in and say I think there IS a balancing point. We are allowed hope, and we are allowed to make requests to God. If we were always satisfied with what is before us, I think a lot of times we would not pray for the changes that God wants us to pray for. We are allowed to recognize when things are less than ideal, and hope for something better. I think we really must find a balance, so that what we are anticipating does not have control over us, and instead wait patiently and with contentment. Like Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Sarah,
You make a great point…thank you for sharing it! I certainly wouldn’t think of all angles. Such as being in a very hard season. It would be hard to want to stay in a place of contentment there and not pray for peace and to bring us through. So I certainly agree with that!
I think sometimes my default goes to material things. We are such a richly blessed people here, and often {esp. in this season} we are always hoping for more STUFF and not content with what we have. So, writing this may have been from more of that angle without really considering all angles.
Does that make sense?
Thanks again! God created us to learn from one another and I appreciate when people have something to offer and they share it.
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From: Disqus
To: christin.slade@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:30 PM
Subject: [joyfulmothering] Re: Is There a Balancing Point?
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I read the same idea in her phrase “controlled anticipation” :hope. And I, for one, NEED hope! But I see the tension: our hope is in Christ and Christ alone… Maybe it is safe to hope that Christ will bring us different circumstances, in His grace and perfect timing?