Finding Contentment

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines ... and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!" (cf. Hab. 3:17-18, HCSB). 

"And God will generously provide all you need.  Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others," (cf. 2 Cor. 9:8, HCSB).  

"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.  If you keep your life for yourself you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.   And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process/" (cf. Mark 8:34-36).  


Has someone ever asked you if you're getting what you want out of life?  Have you ever felt incomplete as a person, having no identity, purpose, or plan?  We must not love our lives so much that we don't want to give our spiritual life top priority.  The closer we get to God, the more we realize our dependence and also how He blesses us.   Paul claimed to have found contentment in all circumstances; a tall order.  He had been there and done that if you know where I'm coming from and realized that the key to contentment is to harbor the right mindset, to begin with.

God hates ingratitude and we must never become ingrates who are not thankful for what God has already blessed them with.  Yes, we may not have all our "wants" or "felt needs," but He supplies all our needs to do His will, not our will.  He will "equip you with all that is good to do His will" (cf. Heb. 13:21, HCSB).  ".... The LORD gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity," (cf. Psalm 84:11, HCSB).

Paul's attitude of prayer was to come before the Lord with thanksgiving making his requests known. God will withhold no legitimate need and blessing from us, but that is not the same thing as having everything we want.  When we have this attitude of gratitude we can endure the suffering for the sake of the Name, as Paul realized in his many sufferings for the sake of the cross that the Lord had counted him worthy.

Some people need to lose everything to find out they need God.  Some need to try the world's formulas before realizing they cannot save or satisfy the heart.  We must realize that when we have God in our life, we have everything we need and some don't find this out till they have suffered great setbacks and loss.  There is a certain blessedness of possessing nothing and realizing that God's grace is sufficient.   There's always a place for the sacrifice of thanksgiving in every situation, some of us can always imagine if it were worse as we deserve sometimes.  We must never resent God for holding out on us some blessing that we feel He owes us; this was what Satan tried to get Eve to believe--that God was holding out on her and she would be missing something if she didn't eat of the forbidden fruit.

Some are blessed in all ways, but all in some ways: God is good to everyone (cf. Psalm 145:9).  It is true that some are so blessed that they focus on the gifts, not the Giver, and some see the benefits, not the Benefactor. We are all incomplete without God and our lives are empty and void of fulfillment, dignity, and meaning--that's the bleak outlook without God in the equation. When we experience abundance we ought to learn thanksgiving and that we don't deserve it--it's by the grace of God, not because we are better than someone.  "What do you have that you didn't receive?" (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5).

Paul's secret source was that he learned the true and only source of blessing--God. If we know God, we can tap into God's riches at Christ's expense. Knowing this kind of true contentment is more valuable than anything the world offers. We can find God's purpose and plan for our lives and live life to the full as Jesus promised:  "I have come so you may have life and have it in abundance." (cf. John 10:10, HCSB).  Our security must be in Christ and we must evaluate our lives relative to Him.
Soli Deo Gloria!

To Complain Profitably

Meditate on these verses to commence the study:

"O God, listen to my complaint" (Psalm 64:1a NLT).
"Those in error will then believe the truth, and those who constantly complain will accept instruction [i.e., doctrine or teaching]"  (Isaiah 29:24).

If you read the book of Numbers you will realize the main theme is the "murmuring" or grumbling of Israel and how they were not content--they wanted to go back to Egypt (representing the old way of life) and eat onions and garlic and eat fish, to boot!  They had become connoisseurs all of a sudden and critics.  And so God gave them their request and then sent leanness into their souls (cf. Psalm 106:15).  We may actually get what we want and suffer the consequences because we don't know what is best for us.  Getting our way is not the best way; that is why we pray for God's will to be done.  We are incapable of running the universe, or even our own lives.

The issue with complaining is to whom you do it and it is not evil in itself.  Habakkuk complained to God and Job never once attributed wrongdoing to God no matter what.  God wants to hear our complaints in the right spirit, but it can be contagious if we tell others and try to leave God out of the equation.

Paul said that he had learned the secret of being content in Philippians 4, but don't confuse this with complacency!  There's always room for improvement and we are never to entertain ideas of perfectionism or having "arrived."  The bad thing about Israel's complaint was that they had become rebels and refused to listen to Moses and God.  They listened to each other and not the leadership that God had appointed over them.  This showed sheer lack of faith and insulted God after all He had done for them.  Only Joshua and Caleb "believed" God and were granted the privilege of entering the Promised Land of Canaan.

The spiritual significance of Moses not being allowed to enter because of his one act of disobedience in striking the rock (representing Christ) twice instead of once was that we know that He didn't arrive as he wanted to and didn't make it to the goal but had to allow Joshua to lead the people to the Promised Land as a type of Christ.  Moses wanted to be like Christ to the people and saw the significance of this role and opportunity.  Moses complained to but he had faith and never wavered in it--though he certainly had a temper which God chose not to restrain.

Tell the Lord how you feel and He will surely listen with sympathy to your plight or dilemma.  We must get in the habit of directing our peeves to God because He is the only one who can solve them.  God does complaints as one would say nowadays!  He is saying:  I'm all ears just speak up, and I'll listen to your case.  Soli Deo Gloria!