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With a crowbar in one muddy hand and a shovel in the other, I lifted my eyes and voice toward the sky. Heavy rain pelted my face and I cried out, “God, what are we doing here?!”

It was Labor Day a few years ago and my husband had started a project over the weekend, hoping to be done in one day. Instead, it was still going on through the holiday.  Having rented a trencher, he had intended for us to dig a very long ditch and lay a pipe down quite a distance from our house to our barn so that we could have water and electricity for animal care.

The trencher just couldn’t get through certain rocky spots, and there were other pipes that had to be safely dug around. These areas had to be finished before the heavy rains filled the trenches with water and washed away all of the difficult and cumbersome work already completed. It was necessary to work through the beginning of the storm so that the pipes could be put in the ground. We were working feverishly and I was struggling inside.

The kids and I had already been struggling a bit with missing a planned family getaway on Labor Day. On top of that, I was now wrestling with feeling frustrated with my husband as he allowed this to take so long into the holiday and now the threatening storms. Irritation was compounded by the fact that I felt we were in danger. Danger toward my family always stirs up fierce feelings of mama bear irritation in me! Breaking up mud with a crowbar in a storm with lightning goes against everything wise in me. Allowing my man to push a giant metal trencher in the same situation drove me mad. I yelled my disapproval to him (he had ear muffs on to protect his ears from the sound of the motor) and he yelled, “PRAY!”  In that moment, that just didn’t feel satisfying enough, but I did it. I cried out all covered in mud to the One who could save us. Thankfully, we survived and I can laugh a bit at our drama.

Later that evening, the children brought up feeling sad about the weekend. They had looked forward to getting to go to the lake we had intended to visit. I felt confident in saying that sometimes it’s more important to work than to be entertained. This was one of those times in our family.  This was an important time to stand by our papa and help him when he was stuck.  This was a time we will be able to look back to someday and be glad that we did the harder thing. They agreed.

Yes, I was able to take that long view at the end of the evening. But I’m not proud of some of my thoughts and words in the moment while I was sliding in the mud. Maybe you think I had every right to be upset or worried. As a follower of Jesus though, I always want to move toward a higher level of contentment. This story remains in my heart as an illustration of all of the other times I get discontent in life.

In this story, the woman digging was not fully trusting in God. She prayed only after her husband yelled, “PRAY!” In this story, the woman was irritated at the situation at hand. She was driven to keep going by love for her husband, but maybe not as much by trust in God.  In this story the woman was discontent.

I’ve come to the conclusion that irritability, anger, fear, and frustration often stem from discontentedness. Discontentedness so often stems from an inability, unwillingness, or lack of awareness to have a biblical view of a situation.  It stems from an inability, unwillingness, or lack of awareness to think about the future and others’ current needs because MY needs aren’t being met at the moment. It often can be boiled down to selfishness. It’s an attitude of not taking God’s eternal view of circumstances and people, and instead focusing on me and my needs.

Pastor and Counselor Paul David Tripp helps us have a clear understanding of biblical contentment.

“Contentment celebrates grace. The contented heart is satisfied with the Giver and is therefore freed from craving the next gift.”

Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies, A Daily Gospel Devotional

His words remind me that contentment finds it’s source in God. It’s no wonder Paul, the one who knew how to be content in all situations, calls us to this:

 Last week I mentioned that Paul said he had found the secret to being content in all situations and that I wanted to explore what that might mean. I’ve been praying about that, and I believe that God is using this Labor Day digging story to teach me about what perspective has to do with contentment.

Paul’s secret to contentment was trust. He knew God and he trusted Him in all things. He trusted God in such a way that He could say, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Our level of contentment is impacted by our perspective. Specifically, our theological perspective.

Is our perspective informed by a deep knowledge and experience of God? Is it eternal, Jesus-focused, God-informed, and on things above, or is it on circumstances here on earth?

Do you feel irritation, resentment, bitterness, and frustration about your condition or situation? If so, it’s OK to take note of those feelings. Take a deep breath and recognize the feelings as alarm bells going off to tell you something. When an alarm goes off, we don’t need to be ashamed. We just need to figure out what’s wrong or recognize it’s time for something.

The alarm going off means it’s time to turn to the Lord and remember truths about Him and who we are in Him. We can pray for help for Him to give us a new perspective. Here is an example from scripture of what we can set our minds on:

Is there a perspective shift that needs to happen for you? Is there a circumstance that challenges you to keep your gaze on Jesus? I admit, I need this perspective shift each day!

I need to ask myself, “Is my level of contentment impacted by a right perspective of God?”

If you liked this post, I think you’ll enjoy the podcast version of it! Each episode is between 15-30 minutes and has extra encouragement and commentary in addition to what’s here. Click below to listen:

Are you signed up for my monthly e-mail, “Encouragements to Turn Toward Grace”? When you sign up, you will receive a free digital booklet I created called: Asking is Loving, Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself & Your Loved Ones. It’s full of great coaching questions divided into chapters focused on questions for yourself, your spouse, your children, and your friends. You’ll also receive a free scripture printable of Proverbs 4: 23 and a free printable of the Ten Daily Biblical Truths that I use regularly.

Linking up with these awesome bloggers this week!