​”Give thanks to the Lord , for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” – Psalms 107:1‭-‬2 NLT (http://bible.com/116/psa.107.1-2.NLT)

We are so discontent in our lives today, and I’m as guilty as anyone. We work so many hours in order to “improve” our lives, but do we really improve them with our actions? I wasn’t content with the appearance of my kitchen, so I’m spending time and money to change it. Will it be improved? For me, yes…. but for the next person in it, maybe they will hate it.

Will changing my kitchen/house (I have many more plans – heehee!) give me contentment? No. I can enjoy it more, but objects and surroundings – and people – are unable to provide the feeling for us. It has to come from within, and Fanny Crosby recognized it at an early age. Our contentment cannot come from outside forces; it has to come from our hearts, and the only true contentment comes through committing our hearts to Jesus. 

Fanny Jane Crosby wrote the hymn Redeemed, which is a favorite of mine. I just read today that she was blinded by an incompetent doctor at the age of 6 weeks, so she spent her entire life unable to view the world around her. Over her lifetime, it is estimated that she wrote over 8000 hyms, plus a number of books. She was a remarkable woman! She wrote this poem about herself:

“O what a happy soul am I!

   Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
   Contented I will be;

How many blessings I enjoy
   That other people don’t! 
To weep and sigh because I’m blind,
   I cannot, and I won’t.”

How many blessings, indeed. I can’t imagine going through my life unable to view the beauty of God’s creation. To walk outside and see the rain glistening on the leaves, to see the birds as they flit around the garden, even the beauty of an old iron fence or a dilapidated old barn…. those things bring me joy. Not to be able to view it, I just can’t imagine.

Redeemed 

Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am. Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
  His child, and forever, I am.

2

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

3

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

 4 

I know I shall see in His beauty

The King in whose way I delight;

Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.
Such beauty in words, and such a promise for those of us who love Jesus and have Him as Lord of our lives!