CHAPTER 1

BE SATISFIED

Philippians 4:12-13

I know what it is to be in need and what it is tohave more than enough. I have learnt this secret, sothat anywhere, at anytime I am content, whether Iam full or hungry, whether I have too much or toolittle. I have the strength to face all conditions by thepower that Christ gives me.

Now, this is one of those subjects we mostly claim tounderstand and have adapted to until the troublesof the earth and worries of this life breaks into ourhomes and invade our lives, only then we are pushed to the limitand exposed to whether we are content or less enduring.

Paul understood what being satisfied really meant. It meansbeing happy with the amount you have presently. It means beingjoyful and gladly putting to good use what you have and notworrying about what you don't have.

The Bible tells a story of a wealthy man named Job. He hadeverything going for him. God blessed him for his good works.He had plenty of food, livestock, a number of servants as wellas children. But when trials came to shake him off his comfortzone, like every one of us, he was then pushed to the limit ofdeciding which was now best to do—either blame God for hisloss or remain faithful and content.

Surprisingly, after all his sufferings and troubles, the deathof his children, servants, and loss of stock, and when his wifeconfronted him for not wanting to curse God, this is what he said,

"You are talking nonsense! When God sends us somethinggood we welcome it. How then, can we complain when he sendsus trouble?" (Job 2:10).

We learn a great lesson from this story, a lesson worthtreasuring for every day of our existence.

Complaining is good for nothing; it only causes quarrelsand division. And we only complain when we refuse to accepta painful situation or a loss of that which we really loved andadored.

It's true there are things we can never replace. Things likechildren, parents, etc.

But losing such things doesn't spell eternal pain or everlastingmisery—no! You can still be happy and still pursue and settlefor a good and fulfilled life, provided, however, you are contentand satisfied with what you still have remaining. You can't be leftwith nothing.

Being satisfied doesn't mean overlooking a problem or apainful situation. It doesn't mean allowing anything to harm youor cause you pain.

And it certainly doesn't mean accepting everything as ameant-to-be loss or a minor incident. Rather, it is more of achanneled mind-set, an attitude of forgiving those who hurtyou, and a skill of wearing a smile even though your life is alltumbling upside down.

To be happy every day doesn't have to be a mountain-climbingtask. You simply need to remain faithful to yourselfabout what you believe in and why you believe in whatever that is.

Trust yourself, love yourself, and accept yourself for who youare and what you have.

It's a fact. You can't choose how to be born, when to be born,or where to be born. Accept your family for who they are; acceptand respect your surroundings where you are.

Talk about dreaming and fantasizing. It's good to havedreams—an expensive car, a fancy house, and expensive clothes.But until you have those things, keep on accepting and beingsatisfied with where you are now, and the joy and happiness youhave now will later give you the rewards of a lifetime of blessings.

Remember, being happy every day doesn't have to meanbeing perfect or hope for others to not hurt and disappoint you.

Jesus, in his love and wisdom, gave us the greatest secret toenjoying each day with peace of mind and happiness. He said,"Do not worry about tomorrow, it will have enough worries ofits own (simply enjoy today to the fullest)."

You must accept waking up to an empty bread bin orapproaching winter days with an empty wardrobe. Nobody haseverything, but we all have that strength of putting a smile onour faces even when days are dark.

Think about it, what change does it bring to cry at a funeral?Or how will it help to not cry at all?

These are two different actions with similar results. The deaddon't come back to life.

So instead of crying and regretting how it went wrong,simply find out what went wrong, work out a way to fix it, andaccept what's already damaged and move on to making the nextone perfect.

Again, there are things you can't change, but it's possible youcan change. You must accept that there are things that just won'tchange, but if possible, let them change you.

For example: One would lament, "If only I had a job, then Iwouldn't be sitting at home while my wife goes to work."

Then another would say, "If only we had shelter, then mykids wouldn't be dying of colds and flu from the rain and frostof the street."

Now notice, the moment he begins to think about a job, hedestroys the joy he had of waking up to a place he calls a home.

It's simple. The moment you begin to focus on what youneed but don't have, eventually your entire mood faces andpoints to that dark and faraway place where you wish to be butdon't have the means yet. Now it's then that you forget to thankGod for what you already have.

Be satisfied with the way you dress, at least your body iscovered. Be content with the way you eat, at least you don'tsleep hungry. Be satisfied with the way you were brought up,at least you weren't aborted. Be content whether your house issquare or round, at least you have somewhere to call home. Behappy you woke up this morning; some never made it homelast night.

Be content whether you have candles or lights; some willsleep in the dark tonight.

Maybe you're not used to being content. Maybe you have toomany demands that require everyone to move at your commandand too many desires that you would give anything to fulfill.

If that's the case then, what would you do when all thosepeople are gone and you are left all alone?

When you have run out of everything, but your desiresremain unfulfilled.

Too much of everything is a bad thing; now I know that fora fact.

And it doesn't have to be or, rather, it's not always the biggerthings we do that end up making us slaves of every sort of desire.Things that stop us from being satisfied and content are simple:

(a) Peer pressure

This has been an ongoing topic for years aboutindividuals who make excuses of their misbehaving a matterof other people's bad interests.

It is very difficult to remain content when you have agroup of individuals that you're trying to please and keepup with every day. Sometimes you are driven to demandstuff you know your parents can't afford. Sometimes you areforced to overlook the misery your family is going throughbut want what you know they can't give.

The pressure you find from bad people may lead you tolosing what is most precious to you. So instead of allowingsuch a pressure to control you and shape your future, pullaway from such people because their minds are short anddull. They think more of what they want and forget whatthey have—what has been with them for all years past.

You, however, must learn to accept your family's situationas it is. If you have chicken for supper, that's good. If youhave cabbage, even better; veggies are better than meat.

Make yourself happy every way possible. Never makeroom for complaints and comparisons. You are who you are,and you are what you are.

Why deny yourself? Make use of every right. You havea right to smile. It is your God-given right to be happyregardless of your situation or condition.

Let it please you to wake up in the morning. Be happyin your clothes. Be grateful for what you have to eat; othershave nothing.

It is better to sleep hungry than to spend blood money.It is better to have a single loving parent than to have themboth, but abusive.

You must understand, when you are content, it doesn'tmean pretending everything is right and up to standard—no!

You must challenge every test, but be happy however theresults turn out. Like Jesus said, getting worried about youreveryday life would not guarantee you huge measures of joytomorrow.

And one thing we never realize is that our failure to becontent makes other people's lives much more difficult sincethey would consider even doing things they never intendedin order to keep us happy.

Imagine demanding new shoes that cost about $200when you know for certain your parents make less than thatin three weeks.

It's not a bad thing to ask; that's what parents and teachersare there for. But it's good to be considerate when asking.

You can take chances, but accept whatever the outcome.

The problem is with people who don't accept certainconditions, people who always want things to go their way.You are no longer like that!

(b) Uncontrolled pride

There are many ways to define and describe pride.But let's focus on what's simple. I believe pride is a strongfence around a person's dignity that secures his rights andstrengthens his character. But what if there are cases wherebyone fails to keep his pride in its rightful level?

Now what does that mean? It's simple. It means being ortrying to be extraspecial and considering yourself to be worthmore than others. People like that find it very, very hard tobe content when times at home or at work require them to.

They refuse to tone down on their high standards evenwhen they can no longer afford it.

Now for such people, being satisfied is impossible. Theyalways want what's new, and they always look down on whatthey themselves don't use. But what if life turns out so badthat, all of a sudden, they are now forced to step down and bementioned among the common, the troubled, and the content?

So to be safe, never think too much of yourself as being morevaluable than others because when troubles flood in and despairfinds you and now you're forced to accept who you really areand what you really have, what a difficult thing that would be.

So you must remember, you can't cure the urge to desire.Plus, you can't not want or need anything.

You'll always need things. But in order to live a happylife, you must be grateful and you must be satisfied.

Remember, a good life with precious tomorrows startswith a smile today.

BE PATIENT

Be patient and wait for the Lord to act.

Psalms 37:7

But the time is coming quickly, and what I showyou will come true. It may seem slow in coming, butwait for it, it will certainly take place.

Habakkuk 2:3

And when they came together, he gave them thisorder, "do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift Itold you about, the gift my Father promised.

Acts 1:4

"Waiting is an art ... if you can wait two years,you can achieve something you couldn't achieve todayhowever hard you worked, however much money youthrew at it, however many times you banged yourhead against the wall."

Dennis Wholey

Be patient.

Let's be honest. Nothing is as frustrating ashaving to wait or be put on hold. Sometimes aminute of waiting can feel like an hour.

But the truth is, you can get more done if you're patient thanif you can't wait.

God was right. As always, there's a time for everything. Thereis time for peace, time for war, time for joy, and time for pain.

Being patient doesn't mean being slow. It means taking thepassenger seat and letting God drive you to your destination.Being patient is never a fun thing to do, especially when youhave overdue bills, various statements demanding payment, andhaving to watch an empty refrigerator building more ice insteadof piling more food.

You must understand, waiting should be a deliberatelydeveloped mind-set specially formed to understanding the wayof life and to tolerate situations you just can't help.

I could only imagine what you're going through right now.You're wondering, when is the year ending? It has already causedyou much pain. You're wondering, when are the results coming?Did I pass? Am I through?

Be patient. Rushing your tomorrow might just rob you oftoday's joy.

I, for one, could admit that being patient is hard. But thequestion always remains—what's the rush for?

Look at our society, our youth whom we ought to be soproud about, they are dying young, mostly through impatience.

If you had waited till after marriage, then maybe youwouldn't have been a struggling single parent when the otherpartner had run off, denying responsibility.

If you had waited till the point you got a job, then maybeyou would've been mighty successful. But instead, you chose tobe impatient and rob your own future with the influence of yourown misconducts.

And if you had been patient, patient enough to let Godlead you to that right man or right woman and that rightcompany—the kind you've always dreamed of—then definitelyyou would not have become an addict. An addict of drugs, anaddict of sex, an addict of every indecency, and an addict of thatwhich you can't cure right now. Because you were impatient,because you couldn't wait till after school, you couldn't wait tillafter work, till midnight, till grown, till wiser, till braver, tillcompetent, till stronger, and till knowledgeable enough, nowyour entire days are spent and shared with gloom, regret, andsorrow, going back again and again and thinking, If only I hadwaited till the right time!

I know the problem is simple—we don't want to trust God.We actually refuse to believe there is a God! This is something wehear about, talk about, and at times sing about, but deny entirely.

And so we shape our own paths, follow them, and fall in theend, all because we are impatient.

Imagine a vehicle forcing its way into traffic, all for notwaiting for the green signal. That's exactly what would happen ifyou don't wait on God to act—you will crash and die.

I grew up in an urban town—highly improved projects,others would say. I went to school like all the other children.Everything was good. We ate the same food, danced to the samesongs, and dressed in our own stunning way. But then I noticedsomething. Some of my friends began disliking the way we lived.And that was still just in grade seven-standard five.

They began judging the way we dressed, the way we ate, andthe way we let things be.

They quit waiting and gave in to crime, all in the name offashion. They changed.

The brand came to mean more than school. The style cameto be more valuable than friendship. They failed to be patientand let time lead them to their desired league.

It's not a mistake you are where you are now. God is workingon your tomorrow. The best you can do is to be happy whereyou are; others are nowhere.

Be patient. Don't rush boyfriends and girlfriends; it's not asin to not date.

Now, I look back at the life of my friends. They werepopular, honored, praised for their swag and style. Girlsadmired them, and we looked up to them. We actually believedshoplifting to be something cool and something worth doing,but now I look back and compare both the times past and now.

I realized something. Because they couldn't wait till theyfinished school and get a job to live that life they'd desired, theywere robbed of their childhood. Through impatience, they rosetoo quickly. They chose to skip childhood. They escaped therole of a child, of being disciplined, taught, groomed, nurtured,advised, and guided. They couldn't wait till old enough to maketheir own decisions about their lives.

Today I look at them. Not only do I see them grown, they'veexpired—they are decaying. They are dead but walking soulsseeking in the face of the earth, searching for that room thatwould give them the happiness they had once forsaken. Thehappiness of being really loved, of being really adored, of beingreally cared for, and of being taught again, disciplined again,groomed again, guided again, and directed again.

Now they look back and realize just how foolish they were,replacing what was so much more important with that whichcould've waited.

The brand they chased after means not much today asthey realize how unfair it all turned out to be. I mean, not allof us quit school for the sake of expensive clothing. We didn'tdisappoint our families by going against their will. And we didnot get famous and praised as they were, but today we wear thesame name tags and now even above what they could ever afford.

We waited for the right time. Not that we didn't want sucha status as the one they had back in the day—oh, we surelydid—however, we chose patience over pride.

We chose patience over fame.

We chose patience over insanity.