Tip of My Iceberg

Living in Florida, we don’t have access to real snow. The weather here doesn’t lend itself to brisk winter storms; not having them makes us want them all the more.

It’s human to want what we don’t–can’t–have. I hear the weather reports of snowstorms up north, and I long for a single day of a blanket of white, a crispness that causes you to see your breath, and the need for cozy sweaters. We don’t get those here in Orlando, but during the Christmas holidays, several places around town try and make up for it with “fake” snow and blowers that give the impression of a winter storm.

John and I took two of our grandsons to a gathering our organization put on, a Christmas extravaganza with games, singing, and seasonal treats. The bubble-styled snow was delightful unless you happened to get some in your mouth–it definitely was soap. But the atmosphere made it feel like my memories from growing up in the Midwest, the wonderful recollections of those days when heading home to a cup of hot chocolate made all the difference in the world.

This Christmas party came close to satisfying all that we hoped for.

There is such a draw to what we don’t have. We tend to long for what we can’t easily achieve in the moment. What others have or have achieved are more desirable than what we have as our own.

That’s what we often think.

It’s these unmet desires that often cause us to feel discontent with others, seeing what they have and what we lack. Such discrepancies cause quarrels and disagreements, which the Bible talks about at length.

“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong–you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:2-3.

Contentment with what we have is a challenge in a world that constantly pushes objects before us for our scrutiny, encouraging us that we can’t live without this particular thing. Shopping online has made acquisitions easy.

Maybe it’s time to reconsider what we value. Especially at this time of the year, when the pressure to give and get gifts is so strong. Focusing on something other than getting things may help us sense what’s truly valuable in life.

“Get wisdom–how much better it is than gold! And get understanding–it is preferable to silver.” Proverbs 16:16

Things will eventually break, be replaced by something bigger and better, or be disappointing. Wisdom and understanding give us the tools to deal with the challenges of life on a daily basis. They are the skills needed to handle the hard times in life, the disruptions and distresses.

God alone can give us appropriate wisdom to handle what we have not yet encountered. He sees things differently from us.

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the LORD. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.’” Isaiah 55:8-9.

God works to expand our thinking to discover what’s really important. Much of life is disposable–people and the truth of His Word are not. Wisdom and understanding teach us that we don’t know it all.

Ryken and Cal enjoyed the make-believe snow panorama, knowing it wasn’t what it pretended to be.

Seeing life through the focus of God’s truth helps us deal authentically with life without unrealistic dreams or desires. We don’t just make do; we thrive with what’s true.

What are you settling for?