Finding Contentment

Finding contentment

By: Anya Sattely

Over the past few weeks I have seen and heard so many examples of people being in the right place, at the right time, for the right reason. In my opinion, I don’t think any of this is by chance. The experiences we have been through and the trails we face often unknowingly prepare us to be of service to others. When we intentionally seek to be content in our current situation, it helps us to develop a healthy and hopeful perspective that can eventually be shared with those around us.

One of my favorite old hymns, It is Well with my Soul, tells the story of a man who was able to find that level of contentment in a time of unthinkable loss. Horatio Spafford, planning to travel from America to Europe with his wife and daughters in 1873, made arrangements for his family to go ahead of him while he stayed behind a few days for business. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship carrying his wife and four daughters collided with another vessel and sank. Horatio received a telegram from his wife Anna that simply stated, “Saved alone”.  While aboard a ship headed to meet his grieving wife after the loss of their children, Horatio penned the lyrics:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,


When sorrows like sea billows roll;


Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say


It is well, it is well, with my soul.

 The word contented, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is feeling or showing satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation. How could someone possibly find peace or contentment in a situation like his? When everything we value and trust and hold dear to us is lost, how can we get to a place where we can see our circumstance as opportunity for growth and a way of helping others?

Being content in our status or current situation can be difficult when we are not where we want to be or where we think we should be. For example, perhaps your biggest desire in life was to become a mother and your heart has been repeatedly broken watching those around you achieve the status you could only dream of attaining. Maybe you thought you would be promoted within your company but time and time again you were constantly overlooked. Our status in life plays a heavy role in our level of contentment and happiness.

The situations we are placed in can also cause us to feel discontent. Watching a loved one struggle with alcoholism or taking care of an aging and ailing parent are situations we may unexpectedly find ourselves facing. It doesn’t mean that we don’t love our family or that we aren’t willing to help them, but it is often difficult to find personal contentment in these straining circumstances.

The beauty I see in the tough times though is that our strength of character is developed. When there is no other option than to be strong, we will be made strong. We can draw on the fact that what we are experiencing will enable us to help another person walk the same road at some point. Maybe you will help another mother who is struggling with infertility; maybe you can offer to relieve a friend who has been at her parent’s bedside for days. Maybe you can start a support group for family members of alcoholics. Perhaps if we begin to focus on intentionally seeking contentment no matter what our current situation, we too will be able to say, “whatever my lot, it is well with my soul”.