July 19, Contentment
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Philippians 4:11
Are you a “don’t have” or a “do have” person? Are you tempted to focus upon what you do not have? Or, are you very aware of your blessings? Contentment represents one of the often-forgotten virtues of the Christian life.
Marshall Shelley, editor of Leadership Journal, offered the following story:
My wife's father is a Kansas farmer. He's spent a lifetime raising wheat, corn, milo, beef, and along the way some sheep and chickens. One morning while I followed him around the farm, we talked about the differences between city living and a rural lifestyle. "Most city folks I know expect each year to be better than the last," he said. "They think it's normal to get an annual raise, to earn more this year than you did last year. As a farmer, I have good years and bad years. It all depends on rain at the right time, dry days for harvest, and no damaging storms. Some years we have more; some years we have less." It was one of those indelible moments of stunning clarity. And that "law of the harvest"—some years being fat and others being lean, applies to much more than agriculture. Growing in spiritual maturity requires gratefully accepting the "seasons of more" and the "seasons of less" that God weaves into specific areas of our lives.”[1]
John Bunyon wrote, “I am content with what I have, little be it, or much; and, Lord, contentment still I crave, because Thou savest such.”[2]
Martin Luther once stated that “next to faith, contentment is the highest art.”[3]
Most certainly, God is honored as His children live in contentment. To genuinely live in a spirit of contentment, we must adjust to the following two perspectives of faith.
First, the present circumstance I face has no authority whatsoever over God’s promised provisions. The Apostle Paul concluded, “my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Second, my life’s success and fulfillment centers on God’s strength in me and not upon the acquisition of things. The Apostle Paul offered this testimony: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Paul knew what life was like with very little, and he also knew life with abundance. And he carefully describes the one constant in both: God’s strength alive in Him through Jesus Christ.
We must realize that what we have at this very moment is from God and should not be measured laterally (by looking at what others may have that is better than yours), but vertically (all that you have is a gift from God). As followers of Jesus, we must recognize how God has blessed us (the “do have” attitude) and not fall to measuring our lives by what others have that we do not (the “don’t have” attitude).
Today, see what you have through God’s eyes. He has blessed you. You can live in contentment regardless of your circumstance. Now, go and live blessed, because you are blessed indeed!
Blessings.
READ
Read Philippians 4:10-19, and honor God from a position of genuine contentment in Christ.
[1] Marshall Shelley, editor of Leadership Journal, Leadership Weekly (11-30-10)
[2] John Bunyan, quoted in Anthology of Jesus. Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 8.
