Once upon a time, there was a man who lived with his wife, two small children, and his elderly parents in a tiny hut. He tried to be patient and gracious, but the noise and crowded conditions wore him down.
In desperation, he consulted the village wise man. “Do you have a rooster?” asked the wise man.
‘Yes,” he replied.
“Keep the rooster in the hut with your family and come see me again next week.”
The next week, the man returned and told the wise elder that living conditions were worse than ever, with the rooster crowing and making a mess of the hut.
“Do you have a cow?” asked the wise elder. The man nodded fearfully. “Take your cow into the hut as well and come see me in a week.”
Over the next several weeks, the man—on the advice of the wise elder—made room for a goat, two dogs, and his brother's children.
Finally, he could take no more, and in a fit of anger, kicked out all the animals and guests, leaving only his wife, his children, and his parents. The home suddenly became spacious and quiet, and everyone lived happily ever after (Hope Health Letter, 10/95; www.PreachingToday.com).
That man found contentment not in a change of circumstances, but in a change of attitude. The fact is even when we get what we want, we are seldom satisfied. People assume that if they achieve certain things in their lives, they will find happiness. For example, some say: “I’ll be happy if I get admitted into the right school.” “I’ll be happy if I find the right partner.” “I’ll be happy if I make vice president.” “I’ll be happy if I have my dream house.”
Harvard psychologist Shawn Achor says this “if-then” perspective cannot be supported by science, because each time our brain experiences a “success,” it moves the goalposts of what success looks like. If you got good grades, you have to get better grades. If you have a good job, you now have to get a better job. If you hit your sales target, now you have to raise your sales target. If you buy a home, now you want to have a larger home (Ken Shigematsu, Survival Guide for the Soul, Zondervan, 2018, p.29; Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage, Crown Business, 2010; www.PreachingToday.com).
Getting what you want rarely makes you happy, because real joy is not found in getting what you want. It is found in wanting what you get. Let me say it again. Real joy is not found in getting what you want. It is found in wanting what you get. Real joy comes from being content with what you already have. It comes from finding satisfaction even in your current situation, no matter how bad you think it is.
So how do you learn how to want what they get? How do you find contentment right here, right now, in your current situation? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 7, where the Bible speaks to people living in less than desirable situations. Some endured difficult marriages. Some withstood slavery, and some suffered discrimination because of race. Look at what God says to people in such situations.
1 Corinthians 7:17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches (ESV).
If you want to find contentment…
FULFILL GOD’S CALLING ON YOUR LIFE.
Lead the life God assigned to you. Literally, walk about in that life. Complete the task God has given you in the place where He put you.
That’s the rule unless, of course, you are living a life of sin. For the key to contentment is not a different place or a different situation. It is found in God’s place for you, God’s assignment.
If you’re in a difficult marriage, realize that God put you there to be a channel of God’s blessing to your spouse and to lead him or her to Christ. That’s what we saw in vs.12-16. If you’re in a difficult work situation, realize that God put you there to represent Christ so that men and women could be drawn to Him. Whatever your class or station in life, realize that God put you there to reach people that nobody else could ever reach.
Happiness is not found in changing your situation. It is found in choosing to serve your Savior in that situation.
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In his book Pursuing Justice, Ken Wystma tells the story about an African Christian leader who spent many years helping some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Wytsma writes:
He was born and raised in what is one of the most war-torn regions on the globe today—eastern Congo. His life is regularly threatened, and he faces the seemingly impossible task of trying to restore villages decimated by rape, murder, and plunder.
Some visiting executives from a large, well-known global relief organization once toured the region. They noticed what an effective job Ken’s friend was doing and offered him a position as the leader of their Congo operations. He quickly turned them down. On paper it was the kind of offer you can't refuse—higher pay, more security, great influence. A dream promotion for most Westerners. But the African Christian leader refused for a simple reason.
He said, “God gave me the job I have. He's helped me build the relationships and the respect that I have. He has opened the door for me all these years and kept me safe on every trip out into the bush. I'm right where God has called me to be, so why would I go anywhere else? I don't just want to do good. I want to be where God wants me to be” (Ken Wytsma, Pursuing Justice, Thomas Nelson, 2013, pp. 161-162; www.PreachingToday.com).
Did you hear that? “I don’t just want to do good. I want to be where God wants me to be.” And that’s where you will find contentment, as well—just being in the place God wants you to be. For happiness is not found in changing your situation. It is found in choosing to serve your Savior in that situation.
In his autobiography, Just As I Am, Billy Graham talks about a time he and his wife, Ruth, were on an island on the Caribbean. One of the wealthiest men in the world had asked them to come to his lavish home for lunch. He was 75 years old, and throughout the entire meal he seemed close to tears. “I am the most miserable man in the world,” he said. “Out there is my yacht. I can go anywhere I want to. I have my private plane, my helicopters. I have everything I want to make my life happy, yet I am as miserable as hell.” The Grahams talked to him and prayed with him.
Then they went down the hill to a small cottage where they were staying. That afternoon the pastor of the local Baptist church came to visit. He was an Englishman, and he too was 75 years old. He was a widower who spent most of his time taking care of his two invalid sisters, but he was full of enthusiasm and love for Christ and others. “I don't have two pounds to my name,” he said with a smile, “but I am the happiest man on this island.”
At the end of the day, Billy Graham asked his wife, “Who do you think is the richer man?” She didn't have to reply, because they both already knew the answer (Billy Graham, Just As I Am, Harper Collins, 1999; www.PreachingToday.com).
You don’t find contentment in getting more money. You don’t find contentment in changing your situation. You find it in choosing to serve your Savior in the situation He assigned to you. You find it when you choose to fulfill God’s calling in the place where He put you. More than that, find contentment when you choose to…
FOLLOW GOD’S COMMANDS.
Obey His orders. Keep His word in every situation.
1 Corinthians 7:18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision (ESV).
In other words, Jews should stay Jews, and Gentiles should stay Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 7:19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God (ESV).
It is not your race or status that counts. It is your commitment to Christ. What is important is obeying God in every situation, not the color of your skin.
In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the “color barrier” in professional baseball when he signed on with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Three years later (1950), United Artists produced a move about his life, challenges, and achievements. One scene portrays Robinson’s first meeting with the Dodgers general manager, Branch Rickey. Take a look (show Branch Rickey Jackie Robinson video).
Rickey asks, “What do you think, Jackie? Do you got guts enough to play the game no matter what happens? They'll shout insults at you. They'll come into you spikes first. They'll throw at your head.”
“They've been throwing at my head for a long time, Mr. Rickey,” Robinson responds.
Rickey fabricates a scenario: “Suppose I'm a player on the eve of an important game. Suppose I collide with you at second base, and when I get up I say, ‘You, you dirty black so-and-so.’ What do you do?”
“Mr. Rickey,” Robinson asks, “do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?”
Rickey answers emphatically, “I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back. You've got to do the job with base hits, stolen bases, and fielding ground balls, Jackie. Nothing else. Now, [you’re] in the World Series, and I'm hotheaded. I want to win the game. So I go into you spikes first. You jab the ball in my ribs and the umpire says ‘out’. All I can see is your black face, that black face right over me. So I haul off and punch you right in the cheek. What do you do?”
Robinson calmly thinks for a moment, then answers, “Mr. Rickey, I've got two cheeks” (The Jackie Robinson Story, United Artists, 1950, written by Lawrence Taylor and Arthur Mann, 00:24:14 to 00:25:55; www.PreachingToday.com).
Rickey briefly discussed the contract with Robinson, and Robinson became the first African American major league baseball player in history. He faced incredible hatred and prejudice, but he turned the other cheek and became a model of courage and humility.
Jackie Robinson did what Jesus commanded all His followers to do: “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39).
You do the same. Obey God even when seems counterintuitive. For example, God says, “Bless those who persecute you… Do not repay anyone evil for evil… Do not take revenge… On the contrary, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Romans 12:14-20).
God’s ways are not our ways; and in difficult circumstances, you must do it God’s way if you’re going to find true contentment. If you’re in a difficult marriage, love your spouse as God commands. If you’re in a difficult work situation, do your best work as unto the Lord. If people are making fun of you because you’re different, don’t retaliate in kind.
If you want to find true contentment, then fulfill God’s calling and follow His commands wherever He has put you. Find happiness in a new heart, not in a new place. Finally, if you want to be truly content…
FIND FREEDOM UNDER GOD’S CONTROL.
Resist changing your status just to impress people. Refuse to be anyone’s slave but Christ’s.
1 Corinthians 7:20-23 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men (ESV).
We saw this phrase in the last chapter where it talks about abstaining from sexual immorality: You were bought with a price; therefore, honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20). Here, it is talking about changing your social status: You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. In other words, resist changing your social status just to impress people. Avoid becoming another person’s slave just to please somebody.
The 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once told a parable about a lily who lived a happy life beside a rippling brook. This beautiful little flower, in its simple surroundings, was content and carefree. Until one day. Until the day when the bird showed up. Now this feathered visitor was a showoff. A braggart and teller of tales. It would swoop in and fill the lily’s head full of stories of better places and far more beautiful flowers. Each story was crafted to convey the message that, in comparison to other flowers, and other places, this poor lily was a nobody. A failed lily. Captive to simplicity. Embarrassingly inadequate.
Following each visit from the bird, the lily fretted more. It couldn’t sleep. It no longer woke up happy. It felt incapacitated by not-enough-ness. The beautiful little flower, once content, now realized, in comparison with others out there in the wide world, it was ugly, deficient, incarcerated in its familiar surroundings.
But the bird was there to help. The bird had the answer. So together they formulated a plan.
Early one morning, the bird landed beside the lily and began pecking away at the soil around its roots. Now liberated, the lily was placed under the wings of the bird and away they flew to the better place. In that better place, where lilies were more beautiful, where life was fuller, the flower told itself it would truly be a lily worthy of the name.
But, alas, they never made it. High in the heavens, rootless and finally free of its former constraints, the lily withered. And the lily died (Søren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, Plough Publishing House, 2014, Pages 139-140; www.PreachingToday.com).
In its attempt to find a better place, the lily became the bird’s slave and died.
Somebody once said, “We’re funny. We spend money we don’t have to buy things we can’t afford to impress people we don’t even like.” How absurd! Resist the urge to do it yourself. Refuse to become anyone’s slave, because you belong to Christ.
1 Corinthians 7:24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God (ESV).
If you want to be truly content, keep the status you had when God called you. Just fulfill God’s calling in that place, follow God’s commands, and be free under God’s control. Because it’s not place, race, or face that matters. It is only your commitment to Christ.
Once upon a time, a stonecutter lived all alone. Though he had acquired great skills, he was very poor. He lived in a tiny bamboo hut and wore tattered clothing.
One day as the stonecutter worked with his hammer and chisel upon a huge stone, he heard a crowd gathering along the streets. By their shouts he could tell that the king was coming to visit his humble village. Joining in the procession, the stonecutter gazed in as the king, dressed in marvelous silk, was greeted by his subjects.
Oh, how I wish I had the power and glory of the king, he thought. He has soldiers at his command. There is no one more powerful.
His cry was heard in the heavens, and immediately the humble stonecutter was transformed into a powerful king. He found himself riding on a great horse, waving at the crowds of people who had flocked to see him.
This is power, he thought.
As the summer progressed, however, the new king watched the effects of the heat upon his people. Men and animals became weary, and plants withered under the powerful rays of the sun. As he looked at the sky, the new king realized that the sun was more powerful than any earthly ruler.
How I wish I were as powerful as that, he thought. I wish I were the sun. Immediately, his wish was granted.
The stonecutter relished his new role as the sun. He gloried in the power he felt as he surveyed the kingdoms below. As he sent his bright rays to earth, he watched kings and princes hide under their parasols; he watched as powerful warriors became weak under his gaze. Even the crops in the field were under his command.
Then one day a tiny cloud moved over the land, shielding the earth from the sun's bright rays. Seeing that here was something more powerful, he thought, I want very much to be a cloud.
Again, his wish was granted. Now he blocked the sun's rays and felt important. He gathered all his strength, becoming a gigantic cloud, and began to pour down rain on the earth. Rivers formed where previously there were none, and water flooded the streets of the cities and the farmland. Everything—trees, animals, people—seemed to be awed by his power. Only the massive rocks were unswayed.
There is nothing, he thought, as powerful as a rock. How I wish I were a huge stone. His wish was granted.
As a stone he remained motionless and powerful, unmoved by sun, wind, or rain. He felt exempt from all the forces that shaped the existence of those around him.
Then one day a man approached, carrying a bag. When he stopped, he pulled out a chisel and a hammer and began to chip away at the rock. Realizing that the man with the tools was more powerful than any rock, he cried out, "Oh, I want to be a stonecutter."
Once again the heavens heard his cry, and he became a stonecutter. Once again he lived in a bamboo hut and made his living with hammer and chisel. And he was content (Martin Thielen, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Honolulu, Hawaii, Leadership, Fall 1993, p.27; www.PreachingToday.com).
You too can be content right where you’re at. Just find your contentment in Christ.
