CREDIT: Photo 30miller, via Flickr.

We are a people who are not used to contentment. August is too cold & windy. February is too hot & not breezy enough. Our family members are too pushy. Our friends don’t support us enough. The HSC is too hard. There isn’t enough homework in primary school. It’s about time the National Energy Guarantee is coming! Who cares about emissions, everything is meaningless!

We can all complain on any given day. And sometimes it’s deserved. Some seasons are really hard and difficult. Declines in health, death, relationship issues, stress from work or study, division in our churches. But, there are also great seasons in life where there is great joy, fulfilment, and one feels carefree.

But no matter the season, we are called to be content. Paul has amazing wisdom here saying:

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. Philippians 4:11-13

I am reminded of Horatio Spafford who was able to write the beloved hymn It is Well with My Soul in the face of great tragedy, losing his four daughters at sea. Though I hope no one in our congregations will face such tragedy, it is my prayer that in the face of all hardship we will be a people who will rely on the Lord to give us strength and we will reach for contentment.

We are blessed. For “whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father” (James 1:17). Let’s be a church that lives in thankfulness to the Good Lord and contentment.

RAYNE ORANGE

Throughout life I’ve realised that it’s often when I’m doing the hardest things that it’s the time that I’m growing the most.

It might be carrying a 23kg pack on a five-day, 50km walk around the exposed wilderness of Wilsons Promentory.

Or, it might be learning to stand up on my mid-life-crisis longboard, without causing further damage to my middle-aged joints and muscles.

But one time in my life that was very hard but very rewarding was my four-year stint at Moore Theological College.

This is the place I was pushed harder than I could imagine to know as much about God, his world, and myself through the studying of the Bible and the writings of the great ones who have so-helpfully grappled with the queen of the sciences.

Yet, it wasn’t just the study that was hard. The four years of learning and living in community forged friendships through the trials we faced, together.

I praise God that the time in College was one where we were all supported by godly and caring faculty and staff, who always sought to help us grow in every way, in preparation for our future opportunities in word ministry.

It was tough, but it was good tough.

Moore College is one of the finest places on the planet to study theology in a community that cherishes God’s word as his true and reliable revelation, and we need to keep praying and supporting this important ministry.

Our church benefits from this every day as our trained ministers stand on the foundations learnt from the study at Moore, and as we seek to then teach others what we, ourselves, have learnt.

As we celebrate Moore College Sunday, let’s keep praying that Moore College keeps equipping men and women for mission and ministry.

Jodie.