God and Nature Summer 2022
Cultivating contentment |
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By Beth Madison
God, you are my God. I want to follow you. My whole being thirsts for you, like a man in a dry, empty land where there is no water. I have seen you in the Temple. I have seen your strength and glory. Your love is better than life. I will praise you. I will praise you as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name. I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods. My lips will sing. My mouth will praise you (Psalm 63:1-5, ICB).
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it (Genesis 2:15, NASB).
… Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ, His Son
“Give thanks” by Henry Smith
I have often found myself singing this song aloud in expression of how much I do long for a grateful heart. (God tells us He welcomes those out-of-key, missing a word or three, joyful noises offered in worship like I bring to Him (see Psalm 100:1).) These lyrics aren’t directly from Scripture, but the essence of them encapsulates Psalm 63:1-5. Psalm 42:1-2 also captures this idea with “As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks, So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God. My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and see the face of God? (AMP)” For it is only when I see His face am I whole and thus truly contented.
God, you are my God. I want to follow you. My whole being thirsts for you, like a man in a dry, empty land where there is no water. I have seen you in the Temple. I have seen your strength and glory. Your love is better than life. I will praise you. I will praise you as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name. I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods. My lips will sing. My mouth will praise you (Psalm 63:1-5, ICB).
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it (Genesis 2:15, NASB).
… Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ, His Son
“Give thanks” by Henry Smith
I have often found myself singing this song aloud in expression of how much I do long for a grateful heart. (God tells us He welcomes those out-of-key, missing a word or three, joyful noises offered in worship like I bring to Him (see Psalm 100:1).) These lyrics aren’t directly from Scripture, but the essence of them encapsulates Psalm 63:1-5. Psalm 42:1-2 also captures this idea with “As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks, So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God. My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and see the face of God? (AMP)” For it is only when I see His face am I whole and thus truly contented.
A husbandman obedient to his God is distinctive in his approach as a faithful, careful, and patient steward of resources for current and future needs. |
As a Christian who’s a soil scientist, I long for Him to cultivate gratitude deep into the soil of my soul where it softens and strengthens my choices for contentment along with changing me more into the Image of my Jesus. To plant and nurture a deep hunger for nothing other than obedience to God and His presence in my days, in both familiar and remarkable ways. Or in other words, to recognize, revel, and revere Him in work in, for, and through my life for His glory and the good of His people in His time and way(s). To grow that unmistakable, irreplaceable longing satisfied only with His good love all through the morning, noon, and night of the days set for me (see Psalm 90:14 and Job 14:5).
With these thoughts in mind, could the process of cultivating contentment in my life be similar to the events in Genesis 2:15? God planted Eden. God brought Adam to Eden. God assigned Eden to Adam. Could God have also assigned Adam to be a caretaker of contentment in his own life? Similarly, has God appointed me to be a caretaker of the gratitude God has planted in the soil of my soul? God prepared Eden for Adam and Adam for Eden. Then God put Adam in Eden with the task of caring for it. More specifically, Adam’s task was to tend, watch over, and guard Eden as if he were performing religious duties in worship of God like the Levite priests did with the tabernacle. The verbs for ‘cultivate’ and ‘tend’ in the Hebrew in Genesis 2:15 are the same words used with the Levites’ tabernacle and temple duties later in the Old Testament (1). (Hold that thought close in and cherish it—we’ll come back to this idea.)
God provided everything needed for the Levites to do their task—design, details, and directions for the tabernacle and then, the Temple (see Exodus chapters 25-31 and 1 Kings 5-6). Nothing was overlooked—be it materials, artisans, or desire of the people to participate in His plan. God wasn’t just involved in the building of the tabernacle and the Temple, but in the keeping of them. He appointed the Levites, a people set aside to God for care of the tabernacle and later, the Temple. And He did the same with Eden and Adam. Everything was there for Adam’s assignment as husbandman of the pre-heaven of Eden and his own heart. Just as God has provided everything for me, here and now, to be a husbandman of contentment in my life.
Husbandman isn’t a commonly used term, even in the King James Version of Scripture. It only appears seven times, none of which refer to Adam (2). Yet the essence of its meaning is seen in Genesis 2:15 in Adam’s cultivating and tending of Eden as if performing religious duties to God in worship. For as a husband is to tenderly love, care for, and protect his wife in Ephesians 5:25, so a husbandman does with those under his care, be they plant, animal, microbe, water, air, or soil. A husbandman obedient to his God is distinctive in his approach as a faithful, careful, and patient steward of resources for current and future needs. He is humble, watchful, and diligent. He tends for all and for each under his care, like with the shepherd who left the 99 to go after the one (see Luke 15:4).
A husbandman’s role sounds like what I’m commanded to do about contentment in such verses as Proverbs 4:23: “Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (NIV), 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (ESV), and Hebrews 13:5: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (ESV). I am tasked to watch, keep, trust, and stay here in what God has given for this time and place in His plan for me (see Proverbs 3:5-6). For He has given me the duty of cultivating the soil of my soul for a good harvest of gratitude in all circumstances at all times (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Acts 24:3). He has promised to work everything out for good (see Romans 8:28). So if everything is prepared and provided for me as seen in Matthew 6:33, this job should be simple and easy, right? Yet, for me, it is a constant struggle against self.
This duty is hard because a husbandman of contentment recognizes that discontent is pride feeding the belief that what I think I should have in my life is better than what God has provided. If Eden wasn’t enough for Eve or Adam, nothing will ever be enough for discontented me. Yearning for that accolade or accomplishment, outfit or opportunity, habit or house is another bite of the apple that has already separated me from the everyday Eden God has planted for and placed me in, here and now.
The garden of gratitude He has planted in the soil of my soul withers with every moment I encourage envy instead of cultivating contentment. For example, even now, discontent has me by the throat in demanding that I email a publisher to see his decision on a book; check the statistics on my blog to see if someone else has signed up to follow it; or leave here and go to the store to shop for yet another cute little something. None of these actions bring rest; all drain away peace like a sieve.
Yet when I cultivate contentment, I harvest grace. For gratitude gives me the right lens to see the fruit of Spirit-led sanctification flourishing in my life—the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control of Galatians 5:22-23. And all of this is grace! The opposite of the death I deserve for what I’ve done—a very good grace in this moment growing here in the Eden of the everyday with Jesus. The everyday that started at salvation and extends into eternity—such grace!
And this grace is real, lasting, and strong. Strong enough to teach and to then remind me that cultivating contentment is worth every battle waged against self. For grace is my most effective tool to weed out discontent, replant gratitude, and build garden walls to keep out arrogance.
Garden walls are vital for my role as a husbandman of contentment so I can stand on them and see afar off what’s coming, and prepare for it (see Ezekiel 3:17). Choices such as to irrigate humility in preparation for that accolade or accomplishment so that God receives the credit, not me; to fertilize love in preparation for giving the money instead of buying the outfit or opportunity; and to disk in diligence in preparation to faithfully work on that habit or house to make it a blessing for others. I must be that watchman on the wall so this grace will thrive. For only God’s grace can convert discontent’s fodder into a harvest of grace in my life for His glory and the good of His people.
Talking about cultivating contentment and actively doing it are not the same. I can write or talk all day about how wonderful grace is, but it’s only a start. 2 Corinthians 10:5—"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”—is where I must dwell. To abide in the truth that God’s here for me is always enough. That the grace of this moment is enough, especially when self is standing up and shaking her fist at unanswered questions, prayers, or dreams. But hallelujah! When God is here in the grace of this moment, He alone is enough to speak a quiet peace louder than the screams of the lie that I am not enough.
Just as Adam and Eve believed that lie of not enough, I do too. Yet for contentment to truly be cultivated and cherished in this moment of grace, that lie has to be dug out of the bedrock of the soil of my soul. Truth and lies cannot coexist. And this is truth—only my God is the true Rock that is higher than I (see Psalm 62:1). For there is no rock like our God (see 1 Samuel 2:2b).
And this God is the One Who calls me to cultivate contentment in the soil of my soul like He did Adam with Eden. He has prepared, provided, planted, and placed me in the enough of grace. He has called me like the Levites to worship Him in the duties of watching, working, and waiting for His leading in the enough of His plan for me for here today. This is my proper response —“A quiet heart is content with what God gives. It is enough. All is Grace” (3).”
References
1. Wenham, Gordon J. 1987. Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15. D.A. Hubbard and G.W. Barker, General Editors. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. p. 67.
2. https://www.biblegateway.com as referenced on 1/20/22 for word search on husbandman in KJV
3. Elliot, Elisabeth. 1995. Keep a Quiet Heart Vine Books, Servant Publishing, Ann Arbor, MI.
Beth Madison has a Ph.D. from Kansas State University in soil microbiology. Her weekly blog is at soulscientistblog.com, where she writes on topics relating to faith and science, patient advocacy, and other subjects. Her book Good Ground, Volume 1 (Northeastern Baptist Press (NEBP)) is now available at Amazon, Walmart, and other online sources. Her book Good Ground, Volume 2 (also NEBP) is coming this Fall 2022.
With these thoughts in mind, could the process of cultivating contentment in my life be similar to the events in Genesis 2:15? God planted Eden. God brought Adam to Eden. God assigned Eden to Adam. Could God have also assigned Adam to be a caretaker of contentment in his own life? Similarly, has God appointed me to be a caretaker of the gratitude God has planted in the soil of my soul? God prepared Eden for Adam and Adam for Eden. Then God put Adam in Eden with the task of caring for it. More specifically, Adam’s task was to tend, watch over, and guard Eden as if he were performing religious duties in worship of God like the Levite priests did with the tabernacle. The verbs for ‘cultivate’ and ‘tend’ in the Hebrew in Genesis 2:15 are the same words used with the Levites’ tabernacle and temple duties later in the Old Testament (1). (Hold that thought close in and cherish it—we’ll come back to this idea.)
God provided everything needed for the Levites to do their task—design, details, and directions for the tabernacle and then, the Temple (see Exodus chapters 25-31 and 1 Kings 5-6). Nothing was overlooked—be it materials, artisans, or desire of the people to participate in His plan. God wasn’t just involved in the building of the tabernacle and the Temple, but in the keeping of them. He appointed the Levites, a people set aside to God for care of the tabernacle and later, the Temple. And He did the same with Eden and Adam. Everything was there for Adam’s assignment as husbandman of the pre-heaven of Eden and his own heart. Just as God has provided everything for me, here and now, to be a husbandman of contentment in my life.
Husbandman isn’t a commonly used term, even in the King James Version of Scripture. It only appears seven times, none of which refer to Adam (2). Yet the essence of its meaning is seen in Genesis 2:15 in Adam’s cultivating and tending of Eden as if performing religious duties to God in worship. For as a husband is to tenderly love, care for, and protect his wife in Ephesians 5:25, so a husbandman does with those under his care, be they plant, animal, microbe, water, air, or soil. A husbandman obedient to his God is distinctive in his approach as a faithful, careful, and patient steward of resources for current and future needs. He is humble, watchful, and diligent. He tends for all and for each under his care, like with the shepherd who left the 99 to go after the one (see Luke 15:4).
A husbandman’s role sounds like what I’m commanded to do about contentment in such verses as Proverbs 4:23: “Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (NIV), 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (ESV), and Hebrews 13:5: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (ESV). I am tasked to watch, keep, trust, and stay here in what God has given for this time and place in His plan for me (see Proverbs 3:5-6). For He has given me the duty of cultivating the soil of my soul for a good harvest of gratitude in all circumstances at all times (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Acts 24:3). He has promised to work everything out for good (see Romans 8:28). So if everything is prepared and provided for me as seen in Matthew 6:33, this job should be simple and easy, right? Yet, for me, it is a constant struggle against self.
This duty is hard because a husbandman of contentment recognizes that discontent is pride feeding the belief that what I think I should have in my life is better than what God has provided. If Eden wasn’t enough for Eve or Adam, nothing will ever be enough for discontented me. Yearning for that accolade or accomplishment, outfit or opportunity, habit or house is another bite of the apple that has already separated me from the everyday Eden God has planted for and placed me in, here and now.
The garden of gratitude He has planted in the soil of my soul withers with every moment I encourage envy instead of cultivating contentment. For example, even now, discontent has me by the throat in demanding that I email a publisher to see his decision on a book; check the statistics on my blog to see if someone else has signed up to follow it; or leave here and go to the store to shop for yet another cute little something. None of these actions bring rest; all drain away peace like a sieve.
Yet when I cultivate contentment, I harvest grace. For gratitude gives me the right lens to see the fruit of Spirit-led sanctification flourishing in my life—the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control of Galatians 5:22-23. And all of this is grace! The opposite of the death I deserve for what I’ve done—a very good grace in this moment growing here in the Eden of the everyday with Jesus. The everyday that started at salvation and extends into eternity—such grace!
And this grace is real, lasting, and strong. Strong enough to teach and to then remind me that cultivating contentment is worth every battle waged against self. For grace is my most effective tool to weed out discontent, replant gratitude, and build garden walls to keep out arrogance.
Garden walls are vital for my role as a husbandman of contentment so I can stand on them and see afar off what’s coming, and prepare for it (see Ezekiel 3:17). Choices such as to irrigate humility in preparation for that accolade or accomplishment so that God receives the credit, not me; to fertilize love in preparation for giving the money instead of buying the outfit or opportunity; and to disk in diligence in preparation to faithfully work on that habit or house to make it a blessing for others. I must be that watchman on the wall so this grace will thrive. For only God’s grace can convert discontent’s fodder into a harvest of grace in my life for His glory and the good of His people.
Talking about cultivating contentment and actively doing it are not the same. I can write or talk all day about how wonderful grace is, but it’s only a start. 2 Corinthians 10:5—"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”—is where I must dwell. To abide in the truth that God’s here for me is always enough. That the grace of this moment is enough, especially when self is standing up and shaking her fist at unanswered questions, prayers, or dreams. But hallelujah! When God is here in the grace of this moment, He alone is enough to speak a quiet peace louder than the screams of the lie that I am not enough.
Just as Adam and Eve believed that lie of not enough, I do too. Yet for contentment to truly be cultivated and cherished in this moment of grace, that lie has to be dug out of the bedrock of the soil of my soul. Truth and lies cannot coexist. And this is truth—only my God is the true Rock that is higher than I (see Psalm 62:1). For there is no rock like our God (see 1 Samuel 2:2b).
And this God is the One Who calls me to cultivate contentment in the soil of my soul like He did Adam with Eden. He has prepared, provided, planted, and placed me in the enough of grace. He has called me like the Levites to worship Him in the duties of watching, working, and waiting for His leading in the enough of His plan for me for here today. This is my proper response —“A quiet heart is content with what God gives. It is enough. All is Grace” (3).”
References
1. Wenham, Gordon J. 1987. Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15. D.A. Hubbard and G.W. Barker, General Editors. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. p. 67.
2. https://www.biblegateway.com as referenced on 1/20/22 for word search on husbandman in KJV
3. Elliot, Elisabeth. 1995. Keep a Quiet Heart Vine Books, Servant Publishing, Ann Arbor, MI.
Beth Madison has a Ph.D. from Kansas State University in soil microbiology. Her weekly blog is at soulscientistblog.com, where she writes on topics relating to faith and science, patient advocacy, and other subjects. Her book Good Ground, Volume 1 (Northeastern Baptist Press (NEBP)) is now available at Amazon, Walmart, and other online sources. Her book Good Ground, Volume 2 (also NEBP) is coming this Fall 2022.