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Occasionally after contacting a customer service representative, I have the option to take a satisfaction survey.<\/span><\/p>\n Recently, I read through the questions of such a survey in wonderment. How would I respond if God handed <\/span><\/p>\n me a similar questionnaire about my life when I arrive in Heaven? <\/span><\/p>\n Were you satisfied with the life you had on Earth? <\/span> Yes <\/span> No<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What kind of question is that? Look at what I\u2019ve gone through! Visual impairment from the age of eight that required dependence on others with countless tasks. Never getting to experience independence of going where I wanted to go or when I wanted to go without having to pre-plan every detail of the outing. And to add insult to injury\u2026.losing my son to suicide while I was at home. Having to be the one to find him. Missing out on memory after memory that I had planned to make with Dalton in our close, fun-loving family of four now reduced to three. And you wonder if I’m satisfied?<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps you can relate because life has been one hard thing after another with no end in sight. I know I don’t <\/span><\/p>\n walk<\/span> alone in the furnace of suffering. So maybe your answer would sound much like mine. <\/span><\/p>\n God, I\u2019m sorry, but my answer is definitely NO. What human could possibly be content in such<\/span><\/p>\n conditions?<\/span><\/p>\n Before that question fell out of my mouth, the answer had already appeared. <\/span><\/p>\n The Apostle Paul was content in such adverse conditions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n Philippians 4:11-13 says, \u201cI<\/span> am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, so I guess there is one person. But, God, we are talking about Paul here, a person who was so extraordinary he made it into the Bible. You don’t expect me to live up to his standards do you?<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Ugh, this verse made me feel so ungrateful. Like my faith isn\u2019t as robust as Paul\u2019s. He could be content no<\/span><\/p>\n matter what he faced. Me\u2026.not so much. Anything less than \u201cLisa\u2019s way\u201d ends in dissatisfaction with my<\/span><\/p>\n life. Child loss and lifelong disability do not bring me contentment.<\/span><\/p>\n That was until I took a closer look at the verse. Paul didn\u2019t say he was content <\/span>with <\/span> his circumstances. I<\/span><\/p>\n highly doubt he liked being hungry, beaten, and thrown in jail time and time again. But, <\/span>Paul did say he was <\/span><\/p>\n content <\/span>in<\/span> <\/span>his faithful Heavenly Father <\/i>who stayed by his side through it all. Paul didn’t have to rely on his o<\/span>wn strength. God provided him sufficient grace to sustain him every day <\/span>regar<\/span>dless of what he faced. <\/span><\/p>\n Wow, that sounds awfully familiar. <\/span><\/p>\n Like Paul, I don\u2019t enjoy living with limited sight and not being able to drive or independently carry out daily<\/span><\/p>\n activities like everyone else. I don\u2019t enjoy being separated from Dalton until God takes me home. I am not<\/span><\/p>\n content <\/span>with<\/span> <\/span>these grievous <\/b>conditions<\/b><\/span> by any stretch of the imagination <\/i>(Side note: Neither is God. <\/i><\/span><\/span>He didn\u2019t intend for the world to be broken as <\/span>a result of sin. But He did send his Son as a sacrifice so that<\/span><\/p>\n pain and death will one day be no more). <\/span> Instead, <\/span> I <\/span>can be content <\/span>in<\/span> the One who supplies the grace <\/i>that holds me together amidst my grueling and often scary surroundings. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n In my guilt, I reread the directions on God’s survey and realized that If I answered no to question one, I was<\/span><\/p>\n to proceed to the next three questions. <\/span><\/p>\n Were you satisfied with the care and attention I provided you through every hard thing I allowed in <\/span><\/p>\n your life?<\/span><\/p>\n Were you satisfied with the love I showed you through my faithful servants on Earth?<\/span><\/p>\n
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