A Truth Not Self-Evident

Maybe it's sufficient to say that lately, I've been musing on the subtle dangers of thinking that only the things that are self-evident are truths.  My reason is fallen, twisted.  The tracks that my thoughts run on are warped, crooked, still built on sometimes treacherous ground.  My emotions, too, are not reliable; things that seem sure at one time look obviously foolish later on.

Lately, contentment (or the lack thereof) has been a commonly recurring subject in conversations, in sermons, in books.  How quickly we are swayed from looking to Christ, from seeing the goodness of God in all of life, and how prone we are to focusing on ourselves.  We comfort ourselves with things that sound like truth but are clever lies.  "I can be thankful because [fill in the blank with whatever 'worse thing'] has not happened."

No.

That is not why I can be thankful.

I can be thankful, can be content, in any circumstance, because God is good.  Not because something worse hasn't happened.  Certainly, it is right and fitting that I thank God for the abundant blessings that He has flooded me with -- but even these good things, the obvious things, the self-evident blessings can become idols.

Ultimately, God alone is the good that I need, the foundation and end of my contentment and gratitude. And that is a truth which is not self-evident to my mind, tainted idol-factory that it is.  It's a truth that I need to be reminded of, over and over again.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in His temple...
You have said, "Seek My face."
My heart says to You, 
"Your face, Lord, do I seek."
{Psalm 27:4, 8}

This is what I want to be true of me, that there will be one thing that I am asking and seeking for, one response that I give.  God commands, invites me to seek Him, and promises over and over that those who seek Him wholeheartedly will find Him.

That is not a self-evident truth.  It's grace.

It's grounds for contentment in all circumstance.