The Mystery of Contentment

November 10, 2017

The Mystery of Contentment

After over a year long blogging hiatus I'm making a comeback because I miss it and it's therapeutic for me. I'm not sure a post about contentment is the best subject matter for a comeback post (believe me I have lots of ideas floating around in my head) but I blog about what's on my heart and right now this is what's on my heart.

Our society as a whole lives in a constant state of discontentment. We are discontent with our wardrobes, our bodies, our marriages, our homes (thanks Chip and Joanna Gaines), our jobs, our government and leaders, our churches, and the list goes on...

We are always chasing "the next best thing." Upgrading our vehicles and phones as soon as the latest model hits the market. Constantly drinking the ocean water only leaves us more thirsty than before we took that first sip.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:11-13

Most of us are familiar with Philippians 4:13 it's the Crossfit, Weigh lifter, Marathon Runner verse..."I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." But if we back up and look into the context of the scripture (which I'm really bad about actually doing but I'm trying to be better about "getting into the Word") Paul talks about contentment and from a prison cell no less.

At any given time we both have plenty and are in need. The mantra "it is not my situation that regulates my satisfaction" must play in our minds. Isn't it God after all the controls our plenty and our need? What if they are both part of His greater plan for our lives. Paul wrote this letter from a prison cell...yes in a prison cell he wrote about contentment yet I struggle to find it in my beautiful home (talk about conviction). Paul was more free in chains than most of us walking around today. But notice he wrote "I have learned to be content..." We must focus our minds on our plenty and not our needs to live a life of thankfulness.

We bring our needs to the alter, no one has to remind us to fall on our knees when things are falling apart but what about when things are going right? Do we lift our hands in praise as quickly? (This is the ultimate "preaching to the choir" post so don't be offended) In Philippians 4:4 Paul tells us twice to rejoice because clearly we need to be reminded and it's important. I'm reading the book "The Hour That Changes the World" it's about prayer and author Dick Eastman spends much of the book talking about praise and it's importance in our prayer life so much so that it should come at the beginning and end of our prayers. Before we bring our requests and even before our confessions we should praise God.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say Rejoice!" -Philippians 4:4

We are free but freedom is new and foreign to us so instead of embracing our freedom from worldly things we stay enslaved to it. God wants you FREE! Free from the need to have more stuff. Free from fear. Free from self doubt. When I heard that statement in a sermon I had to repeat it back to myself. I never thought of myself as being enslaved to worldly things but I am...every time I let a purchase or lack of determine my happiness, the envy I feel, and my discontentment in general. I just want to stand up and shout "I am FREE. I don't need that Patagonia it won't determine my happiness!" It never fails though, I get on Facebook and an Ad pops up (how do they know?) and I forget about that freedom I just proclaimed. Maybe it's not a Patagonia for you or Chip and Joanna's new Hearth and Home line at Target (tucks head) but everyone has something.

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what we want but the appreciation of what we have.

I highly recommend the book "The Broken Way" by Ann Voskamp it's one of those books you have to read slowly and with a highlighter nearby. These are two of my favorite quotes from the book.

"Before you blink and your one life's tendril of smoke, a memory, a vapor, gone, know this: you are where you are for such a time as this - not to make an impression, but to make a difference. We aren't here to one-up one another, but to help one another up."

"When you are filled to the brim with enoughness of Christ, the only way you can possibly have more is to pour yourself out. The only way to more life is by pouring more of yourself out."

So maybe the key to contentment and a life of thankfulness isn't more stuff but instead to empty ourselves so Christ can fill us with Himself. Imagine a world where we all walked around "paying it forward." What if I bought the person behind me in lines coffee, they dropped donuts off to the school, then someone from the school picked flowers and brought them the the nursing home, etc. Would this not lead to thankfulness and contentment? What if we raised our kids this way? Learning not to want more but to give more.

I love giving, it brings me joy and I'm sure others can relate so why don't we challenge each other especially during this season of thankfulness to give of ourselves, pay it forward, and empty ourselves out so we can be filled with Christ.