Tag: contentment

Revive Me #39– Be Content

Revive Me, Week 39–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Be Content

Discontentment keeps us from being satisfied.

  • The job you were thankful to land is no longer good enough.
  • Stay-at-home moms resent being stuck at home.
  • Moms who work outside the home grumble about never having enough time to get things done at home.
  • Preachers’ wives and elders’ wives resent the demands on their time or the time their husband gives to others.
  • Bible class teachers resent being stuck in the same classroom for years.

What once were viewed as blessings or opportunities to serve can become sources of disgruntlement!  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we are God’s people and that should satisfy us (Psa. 65:4; Prov. 19:23).

Discontentment blinds us to the blessings found in Christ.

  • Hope and glory (Eph. 1:18)
  • Grace (2 Cor. 9:8)
  • Strength (Eph. 3:16)
  • Love and fullness (Eph. 3:17-19)
  • Might (Eph. 1:19)
  • Peace (Phil. 4:7)

Those who are focused on self find the flaws and see only inadequacies.  Even these blessings are no longer good enough.  Contentment reflects a heart that focuses on God’s blessings and trusts Him with the rest.

Discontentment is a sign of a weakened spiritual state.  In the passages that command us to be content, we see a direct correlation between our level of contentment and our relationship with God.

  • Heb. 13:5- Make sure your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He himself has said, “I will never desert you nor will I forsake you.”  Contentment is based on God’s promise to be with us.  He will never turn His back on us, and that should be enough.
  • Phil. 4:11- I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  How could Paul do that?  By relying on Christ’s strength (v. 13).  Discontentment happens when we try to rely on our own strength.
  • 1 Tim. 6:6ff- Godliness with contentment is great gain…If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.  Paul goes on to write that those who long for more have wandered away from the faith.

Be content.  Who are you most drawn to…those who find fault and are never satisfied or those who are grateful and content?  When we choose to be content, we lift up the cross and draw others to Christ (John 12:32).  When we give in to discontentment, we keep the world from seeing the blessings of being in Christ (Rom. 10:12).

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities

Who heals all your diseases

Who redeems your life from destruction

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies

Who satisfies you with good things.

–Psalm 103:2-5

Suggestions for the Week:

  1.  List the blessings found in these verses:  Rom. 15:13; Eph. 1:7,8; 2:7; 3:20; Psa. 119:165
  2.  If discontentment has taken root in your heart, determine the cause.  Have you become self-absorbed?  Have you allowed bitterness to color your thinking?  Are you caught up in the world’s mindset of always wanting more?
  3.  Read Rom. 12:2.  How is this verse tied to contentment?
  4.  As a parent or grandparent, focus this week on teaching contentment.  Be mindful of ways you might be inadvertently encouraging discontentment.

Read it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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God’s Will or Mine?

When it’s decision-making time, Christians want to please God.  We want our choices to reflect our submission to Christ and His will.  With some decisions, the choice is crystal clear.  If it’s sinful, we’ll prayerfully choose to avoid it.  If it’s loving, benevolent, evangelistic, we’ll hopefully choose to embrace it.  But what about those times when the choice isn’t so clear?  We can pray about it…and then what?  Wait for clarification?  Do you find yourself then looking around for clues or hints, and saying, “Oh, that must be a sign!”  How do we know if something that happens is really an open door, an answer to prayer, or if it’s simply perceived justification of what we ourselves want?  In other words, how do we know if it’s God’s will or our own personal will?  I believe that sometimes there will be more than one right choice if, when we decide one way or another, we serve God to the best of our ability wherever that choice leads us.  But sometimes a choice can be costly.  Looking back, we might see more clearly how our own decisions led to poor outcomes.  Only God is all-knowing, but thankfully He has given us some guidelines for making the best choices in life.

1.  STORE UP WISDOM

Solomon, who had everything, recognized the value of wisdom.  He said when you’re in a tough situation, wisdom is better than physical strength and weapons of war.  Wisdom is what delivers us from what comes against us (Ecclesiastes 9:13-18).  Michael Hite, Vice President and instructor at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, said that wisdom is “the ability to see earthly things through heavenly eyes.”  How do we gain that spiritual sight?  By studying God’s Word.  Instead of waiting until we’re unsure about something, we should be studying diligently and consistently all along.  Storing up God’s Word means we’re prepared and better equipped to choose wisely.  Notice what we can learn about this very idea in James 1:19-25.  This passage teaches that our attitude toward the Word determines whether or not we’ll produce the righteousness of God.  Do we accept what God has to say, or are we quick to argue?  Do we receive it?  Do we do it?  Do we continue in it?  If so, we will be blessed in what we do.

*Some other verses for personal study on wisdom and the Word include Job 12:12,13; Proverbs 1-4; 24:3-6; Col. 2:2,3; Heb. 4:12; James 1:2-8; 3:13-18.

2.  DISTRUST YOUR FEELINGS

How many poor decisions have been made because of our emotional state at the time?  I once read a quote that advised against making a big decision on a bad day.  Some emotions, like frustration, anger, and hurt, can skew our thinking.  “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26).  What seems like a good idea in the heat of the moment may seem foolish when all is resolved, and then we’ve only added more trouble.  We must learn patience in discouragement.  We must cultivate the kind of maturity that can recognize the difference between feelings and facts.  And we must practice will-power and self-discipline when tempted to act rashly.  “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without wall” (Proverbs 25:28).  Making decisions without self-control equals vulnerability.  Feelings can be powerful, but that doesn’t make them right.  When experiencing the whirlwind of our emotions, we must stop, pray, study, and then decide how to act, if at all.

*Additional verses for study on the unreliability of feelings include Prov. 14:12-17; Jer. 17:9,10; Col. 3:15-17; 2 Pet. 1:5-9.

3.  CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT

Discontentment can be a deterrent to godly choices.  If we are the type to become easily bored or soon dissatisfied, we will find ourselves wanting to make another change, move on, switch out.  This can be especially dangerous in areas of marriage, jobs, ministry, and acts of service.  Discontentment causes us to focus on the flaws instead of the potential.  One preacher’s philosophy was “I’ll stay with a work only as long as I’m useful.”  Unfortunately, he based his level of usefulness on the amount of effort it took in local work.  If problems came along, or things got tough, he moved on.  Consequently, this preacher chose to move every couple of years, and sometimes in less time than that.     No relationship, work, congregation, leadership, or location is perfect.  Contentment will allow us to make choices and then stick with them as long as we possibly can.  “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.  Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).  Contentment reflects a heart that focuses on God’s blessings and trusts Him with the rest.

*Some more verses about contentment and how to cultivate it are Psa. 37; 118:24; Ecc. 3:1-13; Isa. 26:3; 58:10,11; 2 Cor. 12:8-10; 1 Tim. 6:6-11; Heb. 13:5.

Based on these three suggestions, we can ask ourselves some questions when trying to determine whether a decision is God’s will or really our will.  Have I been studying in order to make a wise decision?  Am I emotional right now?  Do I need to wait until I calm down?  Am I anxious to choose something else because discontentment has caused me to want to move on?  If we prayerfully and honestly answer these questions, we’ll have better clarity in determining the right course.