Why does God want us to be content with what we have and with where we are? "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 4:12-13). God wants us to be content because it honors Him. We easily forget that our lives are not about us! How egocentric are we?!! We act like 2-year-olds by screaming and crying and pouting and whining every time we do not get our way. Why can't I get that job? Why can't I make that amount of money? Why can't I go on a trip to...? Why can't I do what my friends are doing? Why does she have...? I wish we had... It's not fair that everyone has... We can spend whole days, years and even a lifetime wishing for what we don't have. But then we are never truly enjoying what God has given us.
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you' " (Hebrews 13:5). All of these contentment verses talk about the most important part of our lives being the presence of God. God gives us strength. God is always with us. In this world of social media, it is easy to look at what everyone else has, where everyone else goes, what everyone else is doing and be terribly discontent with what we have, where we are, and what we are doing. Maybe tonight instead of scrolling your acquaintances' posts and photos, look back on your own camera roll to see all the great things you did recently. Or write them down. Be thankful to God for each of His gifts and blessings, no matter how small or inexpensive they were. Don't wish for what you don't have; be grateful for what you do have! Isn't this something we learned as kids?!!
"But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6). Contentment is a byproduct of godliness and it leads to great gain. That does not mean we gain more material things or more vacations, etc. It means we gain more character and more fullness of the Spirit of God. We gain more heart knowledge of the God who gave us life!
"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:3-4). First, we should trust God. As we do so, we will do good because He will show us what He wants us to do. Being discontent is not showing trust in God. It is questioning God and grumbling against Him. But trusting Him gives us peace because we trust that He loves us, that He is with us, that He is good, that He has great plans for us, that He has a good reason for whatever we are facing. As we trust Him and do good, that leads us to dwelling in a good land with plenty of what we need. God does not promise that He will give us all that we want, especially if what we want is simply material or superficial things. He does promise that if we delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart. Remember this comes after trusting in Him, doing good, dwelling close to Him, and delighting in Him. Only after all these acts of faithfulness on our part does God give us the desires of our heart. By the time we have done all the prerequisites, God will have changed the desires of our hearts. So we will no longer be desiring a car or a trip or a spouse, etc. Instead we will be desiring what God desires such as opportunities to share the love of Jesus.
God will change our perspective if we will get in tune with Him. If we have an eternal perspective, the momentary cares of our world will fade as the important, spiritual cares become our focus. Instead of wishing for..., pray about what God wants you to do or who He wants you to become. Out of my own experience, I can tell you that wishing for what you don't have is a miserable place to remain for long. Join me in leaving that unfruitful place of discontentment!
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