Joy of Contentment
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Intro:
Video - Some of those statements are cringe-worthy. How many have thoughtlessly said myself?
Perpetual discontent is the hallmark of our society.
Keeping the average family unsatisfied is vital to our economic system. In order to lure me to a particular product, an advertiser must create dissatisfaction for what I have - or a nagging desire for what I don’t need.
It’s as if there is a perpetual channel running in our brains full of messages designed to cause us to be discontented.
To move from discontent (with everything) to contentment means we have to “change the channel” in our heads. We have to listen to different voices than our culture.
Choosing Contentment
Choosing Contentment
Even Adam & Eve, surrounded by the beauty and perfection of Eden, wanted what they shouldn’t have.
The Israelites weren’t satisfied with God’s provision. They weren’t satisfied with what God provided, they wanted to order off the menu.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was.
And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat. These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”
So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
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.
Paul shows us that we choose contentment.
That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Listen to this. Paul chooses to be content in the worst circumstances.
He understood where it all comes from.
Avoiding Comparisons
Avoiding Comparisons
In a land of plenty, we often find ourselves comparing OUR plenty to someone else’s plenty.
John Rockefeller’s infamous answer to the question of “How much?”: “Just a little more.”
Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home.
Envy occurs when you compare yourself with someone else, and in the comparison feel deprived or lacking. Envy devalues our self-worth and the uniqueness of God’s creation, gradually distancing us from him and others.
-Nancy Beach in “Seeing Green”
To compare is to covet. To covet is to lust. We can lust after all kinds of things:
food, sex, material things, jobs, ministries, really anything.
We see what some else has and can’t stand it unless we have the same.
Don’t Be Greedy
Don’t Be Greedy
Rockefeller’s answer to “how much?”
Just a little bit more.
It’s like having to split the last piece of pie. One cuts, the other chooses. Never fails that the one who cuts feels slighted.
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Contentment Comes From Trusting God
Contentment Comes From Trusting God
Contentment is a great way to discern just how much we believe in and trust God.
Remember competing for part of the last piece of cake or pie? Mom or Dad telling one of you to cut the piece and the other gets to choose first. Whichever one the chooser took always looked bigger.
We are created to be satisfied when we are in a complete relationship with God through Christ and will fully experience that in Paradise.
In the meantime, let’s learn to say:
So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
The eyes of all look to you in hope;
you give them their food as they need it.
“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.
For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right.
Psa 84:
Conclusion:
Consider this your annual “vaccine” against being discontented