I came across this image a few weeks back and included it my daily visual inspiration. I haven’t been able to get away from it. If it’s true that “a picture says a thousand words” then this definitely qualifies.

To me, there’s so much going on here. Two friends who love what they do. Proud of what they contribute to their community. Men of meager means. No fame. But, their faces say it all.

What you value

The quality I see most in this image is contentment.  You can see it in their eyes… in their smiles.  Others might look on them with pity or disdain, but not me.  In some sense, I envy their simplicity.  In another, I’ve experienced a measure of contentment the past few years as never before.

It all has to do with what you value and what’s truly important.  In ministry, it’s easy to fall into the trap of discontentment because you’re working for a “higher calling”.  It’s our justification for always wanting more.

Take Inventory

• Are you truly at rest?
• Are you really at peace?
• Is there a nagging sense that you’re not paying enough attention to the most important things like family and friendships?
• Do you feel guilty when you take time for yourself?
• Do you feel as though you’re never doing enough?
• Are you able to stop and smile at the work of your hands?

If it’s good enough for an apostle

Take a look again at the image above.  Soak it in.  Slow down.  Take a tip from one of the most driven figures in the Bible, Paul, when he said:

Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances.  I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little.  I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

 Philippians 4:11-13