Contentment

BY JAMES MOORE

Philippians 4:11-14; Psalm 16:6-11

IN WHATEVER CIRCUMSTANCES we find ourselves, the word of God teaches, we can look for blessing and contentment, because our God is behind it. It's like the idea behind the popular hymn "He Leadeth Me". This is how the second stanza goes:

Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,

Nor ever murmur nor repine;

Content whatever lot I see,

Since 'tis my God that leadeth me!

The world is after happiness and pleasures. The world is after fame and power. The world is after anything and everything but righteousness. And because the whole key to contentment lies in righteousness, the world can never find contentment. It's the righteous soul that is satisfied, it is the righteous soul that is content.

Examples of Contentment

A great example of a child of God finding contentment even in difficult circumstances is given by the apostle Paul. In prison in Rome, he has just received a gift of money from the believers in Philippi, and is now writing to thank them. But lest his thanksgiving be misconstrued as a hint for more gifts in the future, he emphasizes:
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction (4:11-14).
He's saying, I want to thank you for your gift, because it is praiseworthy that in your hearts you wanted to share in my affliction. I rejoice far more in your motive than in the gift itself, because had your gift not come, I would still be able to get along. I have learned to be content in good and bad times alike.

Pleasant places. An even greater example of contentment is recorded in Psalm 16. In this messianic psalm, Jesus says:

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritageI have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hopeThou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (vv. 6-11).
Our Lord's life on earth involved much suffering. Isaiah 53:3 tells us that "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

Yet Jesus said, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." He said that every day of His life on earth. He said you, you'll never be content, because contentment is an issue of the soul.

What Contentment Is Not

Following God's leading is not que sera, however. Contentment is not fatalistic pacifism, it's not just stiffening one's neck and bearing down and going through. It's not stoicism, gritting your teeth and plunging ahead. Neither our Lord nor Paul did that. There was a joy in what they experienced.

Contentment is not dependent upon circumstances, nor upon ease of circumstances. Paul says, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." "Whatsoever state" includes unpleasant situations. And our Lord said, "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places" even while He was hanging on the cross.

Contentment is not dependent upon people. Most of the people that Christ and Paul encountered were hostile to them. Yet, in the midst of all that, they were content. It does not depend upon having an exalted position or station in life. Christ was a servant, and Paul was a servant. And whether that's in the home or outside the home, it doesn't matter.

Contentment is not dependent upon possessions. "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests," Jesus says in Luke 9:58, "but the Son of man has no place to lay his head." Paul, too, had little in material possessions. He moonlighted as a tent-maker just to make ends meet.

What Contentment Is

that as well on the day of Calvary and in the Garden of Gethsemane as any other day. He could find Himself content in that which He was undergoing.

Reason for Contentment

Why was Jesus able to be content even in a hostile environment? Notice what the Lord Himself says: "Thou wilt shew me the path of life." He entrusted His life to God the Father. He knew that the path that the Father had for Him would be absolutely perfect.

God has measured out for each of His people his inheritance. There's a specific course for every one of us to run. That's the lines that have fallen unto us. No one else will experience exactly what we will experience. But if we are a child of God, we can know for sure that our lines have all fallen in pleasant places.

Compared to that of the Lord Jesus or even that of the Apostle Paul, the course of life that God has mapped out for us is much easier. If Paul can say, "I am content in whatsoever state I am," and if the Lord can say, "the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places," we should surely be able to say, "I'm content because I have a goodly heritage."

Every believer has a goodly heritage, and God Himself leads us through the path that He has ordained for us. The secret to being content, therefore, is to follow the leading of the Lord as we run our course, instead of fighting it. Contentment in living arises when we seek to do the will of God. Conversely, if you do not submit to whatever God has allotted
 

But if we are a child of God, we can know for sure that our lines have all fallen in pleasant places.

Contentment is something that can be learned. Paul says, "For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Contentment is a mystery that is known to those who look to God in dependency and trust. It's to see that God is in every circumstance that I find myself in. He is leading me here, God is teaching me here, God is chastising me here, God is trying to get my attention here. As we see God behind these things, then the mystery unfolds and we're able to be content.

One thing that Paul has learned is this: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Contentment, you see, is knowing that God gives us strength to face all circumstances.

When we believe in our heart that the sovereign and infinitely wise God only does what is good for us, we will be able to be content in whatsoever circumstances we find ourselves in. When we remember that God will give us the strength to face all difficulties and that His grace is always sufficient, we'll look at each problem we face as a challenge, and not something to fear or to dread.

Proper focus. What can we learn from Christ's contentment at the cross? He said, "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."

Even as Christ set God before Him, we should always set Christ before us. Once we've learned to focus on Christ, we cannot help but remember what He did for us at the cross. How our circumstances would change if we thought more upon what we have instead of what we don't have. God has given us Christ! We have Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Indeed, if you know anything of the sufficiency of Christ, you'll be content. And you will discover this sufficiency of Christ by coming to Him through His Word, spending time with Him in meditation and prayer, setting Him always before you, seeking His strength and finding it. Come to Christ in faith and you will learn more of His trustworthiness, His grace and His faithfulness.

Knowing your calling. What is the meaning of your life? What is your purpose for being here? To know that God has put us exactly where we are is to find contentment. God doesn't make any mistakes, no mistakes at all.

God has given you a course to run and He has given you a ministry. And that's a reason for contentment. This won't make any sense to you if you're not a Christian or are just professing Christianity but are not one. But if you are indeed a born again Christian, this is what the Bible says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).

God has saved you in Christ because He has specific things for you to do. And it is in connection with the ministry that He has ordained for you that He has put you in the situation you now find yourself. Keeping this truth in mind will go a long way toward having contentment because that's what the human soul yearns forto have purpose and meaning in life.

God's plan. That is the only thing that answers all the questions, nothing else does. The only thing that makes sense to a person living in this world is that God has put me here for a purpose and meaning. That's why Paul was always happy. He was constantly asking, "Lord, here I am, what would you have me do?" And the Lord Jesus Christ found contentment as He said, "Not my, but thy will be done."

Oh to be those who rejoice in hope and the glory of God. And to await with gladness the finality of our salvation when we shall find ourselves to have been changed. Be content, brethren, those of you who believe in the Word of God. He leadeth me. o

Rev. James Moore was formerly pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Vacaville, CA. His current mailing address is 749 San Marco Street, Vacaville, CA 95687.

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