Contentment- Three Keys To Unlocking Contentment In Your Life Series

INTRODUCTION

• What comes to mind when you think of words such as joy, contentment, and inner peace?

• Do you think of a walk on the beach?

• Maybe you think about cuddling up next to the fireplace with a good book?

• Maybe for you, it is having a fat bank account, or if we could obtain a certain level of heath.

• Maybe it is finding the right person to marry, which, by the way, some still search for that even though they are already married.

• We are all searching for something in life.

• We are searching for an inner peace that seems, at times to be so elusive.

• The inner peace we seek is elusive in part because we really do not know where to look for it.

• Today we will look at what our text in Proverbs has to say about the subject of contentment, which is tied to the issues of joy, inner peace, to a certain level, happiness.

• In our text today, Solomon will offer us three keys that will help us to unlock contentment, joy, inner peace in our life.

• In case you were not aware, Solomon was one of the most wealthy people ever to live.

• When he came to power, God asked Solomon to ask Him for anything he wanted.

• Solomon, wise beyond his years, asked God to give him wisdom.

• God was so pleased with the answer that He gave Solomon his wish, plus wealth, power, and success.

• However, over time Solomon lost his way.

• The book of Ecclesiastes chronicles that journey.

• You should read that Old Testament book if you have not done so.

• In the end, after much wasted time, heartache, and pain, Solomon finally gets back on track.

› Our big idea for the message this morning is that joy, contentment, and inner peace are found in knowing, loving, trusting, and walking with God.

• Let's start with Proverbs 3:13 for one of the keys needed to unlock contentment in your life.

Proverbs 3:13 (CSB)

13 Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

SERMON

One key to unlocking contentment in your life is...

I. Finding wisdom.

• Verse 13 begins with the word HAPPY.

• Some versions translate the word as blessed also.

• Both of those translations miss the mark a bit on the meaning Solomon is seeking to convey in this passage and the other one we will look at together.

• The word translated HAPPY can be defined as the contentment or heavenly bliss that comes from knowing one is right with God and is following God's precepts.

• The word's core meaning conveys the thought of "benefit" or "advantage" and sometimes denotes the issue of security.

• The glad feelings about the benefit are often in view; happy is too narrow of the idea of the thought the word is meant to convey.

• Happiness and feeling blessed result from possessing the core meaning of the word.

• The same word is used in Psalm 1:1

Psalm 1:1 (CSB)

1 How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!

• Why would someone be happy when they do not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company with scoffers?

• We are happy because we are receiving the benefits of walking with and trusting God.

• When we do what Psalm 1:1 states we cannot be happy because down deep within our soul, we know we are not right with God.

• Oh, we may seek to cover up the pain of not being right with God through various ways; however, nothing will remove that sense of knowing something is not right in our world.

• We are told that happy is the person who finds wisdom.

• The word FINDS in verse 13 shows that wisdom is not a result of luck or chance but rather the result of seeking and searching.

• We may also say, for example, "who discovers wisdom" or "who learns what wisdom teaches."

• So, what is this wisdom? Proverbs 2:1–8 shows us that the one seeking wisdom will find it and discover a knowledge of God (v. 5).

• Wisdom is not an object that may be lost and found but a reward that comes from disciplined effort on the part of the learner.

• Wisdom and understanding are a reference to the knowledge of God.

• This knowledge isn't simply being aware of God like you're aware of the weather; it is a relational knowledge that affects your daily life (2:7–8).