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Key Bible Verse: Now I can rest again, for the LORD has been so good to me (Psalm 116:7). Bonus Reading: Psalm 78:18-28

Our outside environment pushes us to compare, complain, compete, and conquer. To avoid chronic discontent, we need to counter with three kinds of inside pressure.

First, we need to renew our confidence in our secure Source. When something happens to our paycheck or our best friend, we feel fearful and restless. But those are only vehicles of God's supply, not the Source. He's infinitely creative in finding other ways to send what we need. After all, our Father invented manna in the wilderness, water from a rock, and food delivered free by ravens. If we belong to Him, our Source is beyond the reach of any recession, depression, or hydrogen bomb.

Second, we fight discontent with a grateful memory. David's memory was working well when he told King Saul, "The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine [Goliath]!" (1 Samuel 17:37). God sends His gifts to us daily, but because we're too busy to notice or say thanks, we lack David's poise. Regular, specific thanks warms our Father's heart, and reconfirms our contentment. If He's done it before, He'll do it again!" [continued 11/24]

—Ron Hutchcraft in Living Peacefully in a Stressful World

My Response: Is my ultimate security based on savings, investments, or insurance?

Thought to Apply: We should spend as much time in thanking God for His benefits as we do in asking Him for them.—VINCENT DE PAUL (French clergyman)

Adapted from Living Peacefully in a Stressful World (Discovery, 1985, 2000) by permission.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, make me grateful for Your past blessings, confident of Your future provision, and at peace with my current circumstances.

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