Content with the Seasons

I've been thinking of late: enjoying the season of life that you're in is a very good discipline. You can spend your whole life longing for the next phase, dwelling on the tougher points of your current existence and totally overlook all the good things life is offering right now.

A while back I felt slightly challenged when I was chatting with my wife about how I totally loved the summer, and how the rest of the year kind of sucked. She pointed out that if you only enjoy those summer months, you'll only enjoy about a quarter of your life. She then when on to tell me all the things she loved about autumn, winter and spring. Quite a profound, far reaching point. I've since been enjoying crisp winter days, amazing autumnal colours when all the trees turn red, and spring, when all the flowers and blossom suddenly break out. I had somehow never really noticed any of these before.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain"
1 Timothy 6:6

It's interesting that godliness and contentment is described as gain. Most of our thoughts, longings and strivings are looking forward to seasons where we get something extra. Some sort of life upgrade or bolt-on: a job, promotion, financial security, a spouse, having children, more free time and so on.

And yet this verse is talking about the underlying root of all of these: gain. Contentment and godliness, I imagine, are two incredible sources of joy. They provide the ability to enjoy God and everything he's provided, and you can tap into that whatever stage your life is at.

When you look back at seasons that have now come and gone, you realise that there were many, many good things that God provided and were very enjoyable, that you somehow didn't appreciate to their full extent at the time.

So it leaves you with a few questions: what is it that you're longing for, and what are you overlooking? Will anything other than God satisfy you?