Have you ever considered the fact that godliness really isn’t godly if it isn’t accompanied by contentment? That idea may seem strange to you, but I bet this thougt will ring a sound of truth in your ears: It is impossible to be like God and yet long for anything other than God. Let me try to explain.
Contentment is often thought of as being satisfied with what you have; not wanting more than what you need. My contention is that contentment has nothing to do with how much or how little you have. Rather, contentment, the biblical model of it, has to do with where you find your satisfaction, where you rest your soul, where you keep your focus at all times, where you abide.
Paul himself said, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil 4:12). Paul had discovered that contenment doesn’t rest in having just the right amount of the things we want or need. Having an abundacne didn’t make him more content and having nothing didn’t make him less content.
How is this possible? How might we be content? Well the answer lies in Paul’s next statement in verse 13 where he points to the fact a person can endure any circumstance if he finds his strength in Christ. In 1 Timothy 6:11-12 Paul expands on this by pointing out that the one who grows in Christian contentment is the one who flees from sin and pursues righteousness and grabs ahold of the hope of eternity with determination and vigor. The one whose eyes are set upon the Lord will not faulter in snares of wealth or poverty, though he may experience one or both in his life, for there is great gain in godliness with contentmet (1 Timothy 6:6).
Where do you rest? Where do find your satisfaction? True rest and true satisfaction can only be found in Christ – abide in him and be content.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The account of the people of God in the wilderness and the gift of manna, which God gave them, provides some helpful illustrations for the Christian life. One such illustration comes from the point at which some people went out into the field on the seveth day to look for manna when God had expressly instructed them to gather enough on the sixth day to feed themselves on the seventh day. He reasoned with them that the seventh day was the Sabbath, a day of rest, and therefore, no manna would be placed in the fields for them. Despite this clear instruction some people still went to seek their sustenance in the field. (See Exodus 16:1-35)
As Christians we have been given the bread of life. We have taken Christ in, and he now abides in us. We have all we need to rest in faith on the promises of God. Jesus himself said that a person does not live on bread alone but on the very word of God. We have in Christ all that we need for contentment, fulfilment, satisfaction, peace and security. However, like those who lacked faith in God in the wilderness and sought sustenance where God said there would be none, we often find ourselves seeking our rest and hope in places and things other than Christ.
My encouragement to you today is that you would trust God and abide in Christ. Do not seek your satisfaction in earthly pleasures. Do not seek for peace in human systems. Do not look for security in your own strength. Look for these things in Christ with the certain knowledge that they are there. God gave us an eternal supply of all that we need in Christ. Set your eyes upon him today, and he will keep you in perfect peace. If you find yourself doubting that Christ is enough go to your heavenly father and plead for the faith needed to overcome those doubts. He is a good father who knows how to give good gifts to his children. He will help you.
It seems that every day I have to remind myself of the truth in the song of Revelation 15:3, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God Almighty!” I need to remember this truth. I need it engrained in my heart. My mind must grasp this fact about my Father and Savior for it is a truth the type of which changes a man’s perspective. When I wake up discouraged, thinking nothing is going “my way” in life, none of the things I pray for are happening as I want them to happen, this truth settles me and sets me back on the right path.
The human spirit seems bent toward discontentment, and discontentment seems to find its source in our not being where we want to be; doing what we want to do. Taking away that discontentment, I know, lies in a greater faith in God. We must continually cast all our cares on God with a firm confidence in the truth that His deeds are great and amazing; knowing that he cares for us.
I find that this attitude of contentment or faith in God to care for my cares is very difficult to maintain. This is why I agree with those like CJ Mahaney who say we need to spend more time talking truth to ourselves and less time listening to ourselves. It is kind of a strange thought, but the idea really is that when I listen to myself, I only hear about life from the perspective of a lost, sinful, broken and blind liar. But when I speak truth to myself, I can only be telling myself what I am hearing from God and then I am no longer listening to myself, but I am listening to God.
This isn’t easy. I know I listen to the confused liar way too often. The despondency of my heart is evidence of this. But when I pour truths like that of the song of Revelation 15:3 into my soul, and when I grasp the impact of his care for me (1 Peter 5:7) and hold on to those truths, I find my despondency lifts away. The key is, it lifts only so long as I hold fast to those truths. As soon as I stop speaking the truth about God’s greatness and care for me, my despondency begins to return.
What must I do? What must we all do? We must take the Word of God with us in heart and in our mind all day and speak it to ourselves often and find hope and rest.
