A Secret to a Valuable Jewel

Introduction

We are entering into the most consumeristic season of the year…Christmas.

illustration: I have a secret! When you hear that you lean in and listen right? A secret in plain sight.

Contentment doesn’t come from independence, but from total dependence on Jesus. Contentment isn’t found in SOMETHING but it’s found in SOMEONE.

Plenty and Poverty

What is contentment?

It’s a sweet inward state. It’s inside of you.

It’s perpetual, never-ending and constant.

It’s joy, peace, and gentleness and strength combined.

It’s for in every single moment of your life, regardless of what happens around you or to you. It’s for anyone, anywhere.

Contentment is completely free from dependence on circumstances.

This is so HUGE because this is so different than the way we naturally think about contentment. Let’s just be honest with each other. When things around us are going wonderfully, we are content people. But when things are going miserably, we are miserable people, because our contentment so often hinges on and revolves around our CIRCUMSTANCES. But that’s not actual contentment.

Ex. A baby is crying because they’re hungry or they need you to change them. You feed them or change them and they stop crying. Now they’re content. Why? Because their circumstances changed. That’s the way that we think about contentment. If only our circumstances would change, then we would be content. If things would get better, we would be content. But that’s not contentment. Contentment is completely free from any dependence on circumstances.

What this doesn’t mean: Do you realize how revolutionary that is? But hear me here…I am not saying that our circumstances don’t affect our lives. This isn’t about faking it until you make it. Or pretending everything is perfect in life when it’s not. It’s not about ignoring hurt, heartache, pain, disappointment or grief that is real. This is not about denying struggles and suffering in the world.

2 Corinthians 11:22–29 “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”

This is the beauty of this secret. There is a way to have perpetual joy, peace, gentleness, and strength IN THE MIDST OF (insert circumstance). Wouldn’t you love to have that?

Contentment is learned.

Paul didn’t have contentment just zapped into his heart. He learned that Christ was enough through many different circumstances.

Paul knew what it was like to be hosted by the wealthy Lydia in Philippi. I’m sure he had some wonderful dinners with some wealthy Christian friends in Ephesus and Corinth.

Paul also knew hardship. (As read above) Paul knew what abundance was like, but he also often went without food. He knew what it was like to sleep in the cold. He really did know. Paul learned contentment as he followed Jesus; he learned what mattered. Contentment isn’t learned in a moment, but over time as we ask the Lord to teach us to be content He will teach us more and more through our circumstances.

When we have little and have lost much, Christ comes and reveals himself as more valuable than what we have lost. And when we have much and are overflowing in abundance, Christ comes and he shows that he is far superior to everything we have.

Reliance on Christ

Philippians 4:13 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, but it is also the most misapplied verses in the Bible. Many athletes love this verse for inspiration to achieve their dreams. The phrase “all things” has to be looked at in the context of the surrounding verses. (Teach a bit on context and it’s importance when understanding the Bible and sets of verses.)

The context is about contentment and material possessions. Paul is saying that through Christ he’s able to be content in every situation. Paul learned the secret because he learned to focus on Jesus. Paul isn’t preoccupied with his situation; he’s preoccupied with Jesus. When you focus on Jesus, you can be content.

But I want you to think on this question for a minute: Has a lack of contentment made you less flexible to live on mission? Contentment makes you adaptable. How can people leave it all for the foreign mission field? Here’s how: they’re preoccupied with Jesus, not their circumstances. They don’t need a bunch of stuff and familiar, comfortable surroundings.

Christian contentment makes us flexible, able to go anywhere. Think about it…if God ended up calling you to go and to live in another country you would have to learn another language, adopt new customs, and reorient your whole way of life, you’re away from your family (some of yall would love that). You can’t do this if you aren’t content in Christ. And I will tell you from personal experience that it is a daily struggle. (Share about our experience and a few things that Aubree and I personally miss about WNC).

Here is the kicker: Do you need Jesus plus something else, or is Christ enough?

Reference back to Phil. 3:5-6. Keep playing off of WNC connection. The things that were and are being produced in me now are a result of being pushed away from some of the comforts in WNC. Those things were good things, but they hindered me in some ways because of that comfort. I became more vibrant in my prayer life than I ever had been. I was able to see God challenge and stretch Aubree and I’s marriage as we moved away from the safety net of our families, our environment we grew up in, the church we were discipled in, etc. Does that mean that this is what everyone will experience? No. But it could. It could be on a grander scale. It may be another country.

Land the Plane

Christian contentment isn’t connected to our circumstances, it is learned over time through our circumstances, and it makes us adaptable, flexible, and open to wherever the Lord wants to send us because what we must have is Him. If we have His presence, then we have enough.

Please hear this: your eternity hinges on whether or not you have trusted in Jesus for life. If you put this whole series together, everything hinges on Who Jesus is. Not just eternal life, but contentment in this life, hinges on Who He is.