Contentment isn't a popular subject. Fed daily by television, we may want a better body, a bigger house and a spouse with a perfectly chiseled face and a body like Samson. In briefly scanning the table of contents of Linda Dillow's book, Calm My Anxious Heart, it's easy to see that the subject matter in this book isn't what the world seeks. Chapter titles like "Content with Circumstances," "Content in Relationships," and "Never Enough" deal with lifestyle decisions that would never fly on America's television talk shows.
Dillow begins by saying that contentment is a state of the heart, not a state of affairs. Quoting from the diary of a woman named Ella, the author lays the foundation for the rest of the book. Here is Ella's prescription for contentment:
• Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
• Never compare your lot with another's.
• Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
• Never dwell on tomorrow—remember that [tomorrow] is God's, not ours.
"I 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 everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13
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