Be Content

A few weeks ago, I wrote a Facebook post about the importance of contentment. Paul said, "for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11). This morning, I read another verse that explains why we should be content. Hebrews 13:5 says, "be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

A few years ago, we were living in Arizona. We had family and friends there, we were part of a great ward, we owned a home, and life was generally good. Other than the heat, we didn't have much to complain about. Then in the summer of 2011, Catherine and I got the feeling that we should move to Utah. The feeling was very strong and wouldn't go away. After being prompted for several weeks, we decided it must be time to move. (Around that time, I was also stung twice by a scorpion in my garage, and that sealed the deal!).

At the time, I had a stable job with benefits, but I put in my notice. I had no solid prospects for a new job. We didn't have a place to live yet. Catherine was pregnant, and because of Utah law at the time, our whole family lost our medical insurance when we moved. It was a little scary, but it was a time of great contentment for our family. We recognized that we were being prompted by the Spirit to move, and if God wanted us to move, He would certainly take care of us. As that verse in Hebrews says, we can be content because God will never leave us or forsake us. If we trust in God and have faith in Him, He will provide what we need.

God did provide what we needed. Before our move, we had a quick trip to Utah. We had one day to look for a home, and we were able to rent out the first place we looked at. I had one job interview while I was there, and it led to one day per week of work. Later, as I was driving the U-Haul to Utah, my friend called and asked if I would like to work for him a day or two a week. Things started to fall into place for us.

Initially, I was only working a few days a week after the move. I was building up my own practice, and things were pretty tight financially for a while. When we were in Arizona, we had been focusing on paying off all our debts and therefore hadn't saved a lot of money, but things worked out. We always had what we needed, and anytime we wondered how we might survive the next little while, someone would give us some apples, or an unexpected $500 escrow check would show up in the mail. We never lacked for the necessities. And even though we had lost our health insurance, everyone in the family stayed healthy and our medical bills were minimal. Since we were paying cash for the delivery of our baby (who was born about six months after the move), the hospital and doctor's office gave us huge discounts. We ended up paying much less for our medical care during this time than we would have if we had been paying a health insurance premium each month. We got through the whole process without going into debt.

This was a challenging time in the life of my family, and I must admit that I worried quite a bit. But we were content. We knew that a loving Heavenly Father was watching over us and would never forsake us. We had faith that all of our needs would be met--and they were. Because of this experience, our trust and faith in God have increased, and our family is stronger now.

This whole experience brings to mind one of my favorite scriptures:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).

If we have faith, we can be content, knowing that God will provide. He will never leave us. He will allow us to struggle, and we might reach the limit of what we can handle, but God will never forsake us. I hope that as life becomes more prosperous for our family that we will continue to remember God's love and tender mercies in our lives, and that we will always be content with what we have.