Content or discontent
We continue in our series on discovering our destiny and we have been looking at what it means to have the right mind-set. Today we are considering how we can be content in all circumstances.
Let’s start with a question, I have not done that for a while. You don’t need to call out an answer, just in your head - What is one thing separating you from being content?
How would you fill in the blank: “I will be content when ____________?”
When I am healed. When I am promoted. When I am married. When I am rich. How would you fill in the blank?
As I said I do not want to know your answers, but can you just raise your hand if you have filled in the blank.
With your answer in mind, I have another question... If your “blank” never happens, if your dream never comes true, if the circumstance or situation never changes, would you be discontent?
In the world we live in there are many people who are discontent with some aspect of their lives and they constantly look for more. Our world seems to contain far more people who are discontent than those who are content.
People search for something better, a better job, better pay, a better car, a better priced electric or gas supplier, a better tasting food, a better golf swing, a better catch of fish. The list of what people are searching for is endless, and even if they find what they have been searching for most are still not content and they seek out the next thing; the next purchase, the next holiday, the next experience.
People are never satisfied, never content, and some are even envious or resentful of those who seem to have attained or accumulated more.
Contentment does not mean complacency. As Christians we can seek to better our circumstances as we have opportunity. The Bible encourages hard work and the rewards that come from it, as long as we are free from greed. If you’re in an unpleasant job, there is nothing wrong in seeking to change to another job, as long as you do so in submission to the will of God.
For us, as Christians, what is the contentment we should be seeking? I would suggest it is the inner sense of peace that comes from being right with God, from knowing God is in control of everything that happens. Our contentment should come from having our focus on God and serving Him, not on seeking after the material things of the world.
God has given you material things, a roof over your head, food on your table, clothes on your back.Are you thankful for what you have or are you discontent with what God has already given you? Do you thankfully enjoy what you already have? Do you seek to use what He has given you for His purpose? Are you generous in your giving? Are you content in Him?
If God took away something from you would your joy in Him remain steady? Could you say as Job did in Job 1:21, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”?
Real contentment comes from God, from a life centred on a living relationship with Jesus, our Lord and as Saviour.
Instead of being battered by difficult circumstances or situations, instead of being discontent, no matter what happens to us or what others do to us, we are to be content because we have the firm assurance that God is for us and He will never forsake us.
So....
Is real contentment really possible? Is it possible to be content in all circumstances?
To answer that question I want us to consider together a thank-you note from a man sat in prison awaiting possible execution over false charges. The prisoner was the Apostle Paul and the Philippian church had sent him a financial gift. In Philippians 4:10-13, Paul expresses his thanks, and also speaks of how God is sufficient for every need.
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul, How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:10-13)
Let’s consider what Paul describes as contentment and then think about how we can truly experience it in our own lives. The Apostle Paul had learned how to be content with whatever he had. That is a bold statement.
The Greek word translated content in verse 11 is autarkes, a Greek word meaning positive self-sufficiency, inward-contentment, satisfied-independence. The Ancient Roman and Greek Stoics elevated this word, to mean the ability to be free from all want or needs.
Paul is clear when he says that the reason he can be content in this way is only because he can do everything through Christ, who gives him strength. Paul’s contentment did not come from what he had, Paul’s contentment came from his relationship with Jesus.
Paul had come into a relationship with God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit worked in Paul’s heart and mind to help him understand who he was in Christ and what he truly had, his sins forgiven, a place in heaven, the promise, the assurance of eternal life.
Material things were necessary in his life but he was content because he looked beyond the temporary to the eternal.
If we focus on the now, it’s easy for us to be discontent, we look at what we see, if we look at what others in the world may have, we can look at them and we can become dissatisfied with what we have now. But, if we look up, if we look forward, then regardless of what we may or may not have here, if we look to God then we know He is enough. We can be content with what we have and with what is to come.
If we are in Christ, we have everything that matters. Listen to the words of the minister and author John Stott: "Contentment is the secret of inward peace. It remembers the stark truth that we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. Life, in fact, is a pilgrimage from one moment of nakedness to another. So we should travel light and live simply. Our enemy is not possessions, but excess. Our battle cry is not 'Nothing!' but 'Enough!' We've got enough. Simplicity says, if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."
If we are in Christ, we have everything that matters. If we are in Jesus, we have more than enough.
Contentment comes when we can honestly say with the apostle Paul, I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Paul learned the secret of how to be content. Maybe we need to learn the secret too. The secret, is not so secret, to be content in every situation our focus must be on our Lord, our Saviour, our Sovereign, our all Sufficient God.
Our lives must be submitted to Jesus; He is the one we trust, He is the one we serve; He is the one who has saved us from the burden of our sins, He is the one who died so we could have eternal life, He is the one who has saved us from an eternity in hell and assured us of a place in Heaven.
Tonight, if you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, how can you not be content with what He has already done for you? Paul knew who Jesus was, Paul knew what Jesus had done, Paul knew and he knew contentment in every situation.
While Paul was in prison he wrote a number of letters, he wrote to churches and he wrote to individual people, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. In Paul’s letters he asks for prayer, he asks for prayer to be bold and faithful in his witness. Paul trusted and submitted himself to the sovereignty of God and even here, even in prison, he was content. Paul had learned how to live with everything he needed and Paul had learned how to live with nothing.
Paul did not grumble, he did not panic, he was content because he knew God cared for Him. Paul learned how to be content, it wasn’t an instantaneous transformation, it was a process. Contentment came as Paul walked with God each day.
Every circumstance, every situation, every up and every down, every high and every low, helped Paul to learn how to be content in Christ. Friends we need to do the same.
We need to submit to God’s will and purpose for us. We need to trust Him, we need to follow Him, we need to be willing to discover the destiny He has for us, we need to learn to be content in all things.
Contentment is something we can all learn. Instead of looking for things that will make us content we need to learn how to be content. If you are walking with God and you find yourself in a difficult situation, you are not there by chance. God has put you there for your training in faith, so trust God and you will learn how to be content.
Contentment isn't pretending things are right when they are not, it is displaying the peace that comes from knowing that God is bigger than all our problems.
Contentment comes from the joy of knowing the Lord is our Strength and Shield in every circumstance. Contentment is not based on external circumstances, not based on what we see, it is based in our faith in our eternal God.
The apostle Paul had learned to have an enduring contentment, a real, a deep, contentment in Christ. If we are in a living relationship with our Heavenly Father, we can learn to have the same contentment.
All that we need God will supply. Everything you need, what you eat, what you drink, even what you wear, listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-33:
“I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."
Jesus was teaching that if we will put our focus on serving Him and growing in righteousness, God will take care of our needs. In the context He is talking about how we are to be free from anxiety, how to are be content.
When our focus is on our Saviour, and on doing what He has called us to do, we can be content with what He provides. In Philippians 1:21 Paul wrote, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.”
The cornerstone of contentment for Paul was Jesus.
The cornerstone of contentment for us is Jesus.
Remember what Jesus has done for you at the cross.
Because of Jesus, we are freed from sin.
Because of Jesus, our salvation is secure.
Because of Jesus, our friendship with God is possible.
Because of Jesus, our future in heaven is guaranteed.
Isn't that enough to make us content? What else can really matter?
As we draw to a close consider the words of Paul in Philippians 4:19, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
Trust God. He has dealt with your past, He is with you in your present. Your future is secure in Him.
Be content, focus on God, live each day in the light of His glory.
My final encouragement is this: You can experience contentment in Christ.
Contentment that comes from learning that Jesus is more than enough.
If you know Jesus, you have a God who hears you, a God who loves you, the Holy Spirit within you, and eternity in heaven ahead of you.
If you have Jesus, you have forgiveness for every sin, direction for every turn, a light for every darkness, and an anchor in every storm.
You have everything you need. Learn to be content and learn to do everything through Christ who strengthens you.
