From today’s reading in Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening: Christians know that an ounce of contentment is more valuable than a ton of gold. The person wearing a threadbare coat over a good conscience has found a spiritual treasure far more desirable than any he may have lost. God’s smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart; His frown and a palace would be hell to the trusting soul. Let the worst become worse still, let all the talents go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. In the meantime, even now the Lord makes the meek inherit the earth, and He keeps back nothing good from those whose walk is blameless.

I read that passage yesterday, and it has been running through my thoughts since then. When I awoke early this morning, there it was, among a whole mixture of thoughts. Thankfulness for my comfy bed. I can adjust its softness at the touch of a button. Smooth sheets, downy blankets and a pillow perfect for smooshing into just the right shape for my head. Heat that comes on at a pre-set time and temperature. And a loving, faithful husband next to me. All this coziness, and God’s smile too.

But what about God’s smile and a dungeon that Spurgeon wrote of? Is my heart true enough for that? We’ve known just a bit of living without the usual comforts of our life. We lived in Nepal, ministering to hippies in the early 1970s. We slept on a thin cotton ‘mattress,’ had what I call a ’squat toilet,’ and took baths out of a bucket of water heated with a heating coil. We had no refrigerator, and ate a very simple diet of mostly rice and vegetables. There were times when I said I’d trade an arm for an ice cube. Those were challenging, fruitful times. But far, very far, from a dungeon. In the years following, we’ve had personal agonies that have stretched us beyond the limit of endurance. But still, we were far from a dungeon.

Honestly, I feel pretty certain that I’ll not end up being thrown in a dungeon. But that doesn’t excuse me from having a heart true enough for that. Do I know God; am I absolutely convinced of all he reveals of himself in Jesus so that if I were to be stripped of everything and everyone but Himself, both he and I could smile? Is he enough for me?