Philippians 4:11…..Hebrews 13:5…1 Timothy 6:5-7
In today’s world there is almost nothing that people cannot possess. I was recently thinking of the things that my Grandfather, Benjamin Augustus Golden, saw come into being during his lifetime. He was born in 1885 and just about everything we know about and desire to possess did not exist in his world. It is amazing how the human race made it all those thousands of years without the things we have come to take for granted. In his childhood, there were no automobiles, telephones, television, electrical appliances or just about anything else we now use every day. These are the kinds of things that we feel we could not survive without yet our predecessors made it just fine. They have what many today wish for: a calmer life with fewer stressful details and a calmer society in which to live.
The people of our era have lost the desire or ability to be content with what they have and the situation in which they find themselves. We want life in a certain way in which society has told us we deserve and need. The idea the God can give us what we need is nowhere to be found. Yet, the Bible says just that. Trusting in God will bring a peace and contentment that is beyond the world’s ability to conceive. In Philippians 4:11, the Apostle Paul is in prison writing to the Church at Philippi. He makes a startling statement when he thanks the church for provisions they have sent to him and he then says this in verse eleven: “Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be content.” What allowed Paul to say such a thing? It was that He totally trusted God with his life. He displayed total, absolute, profound faith in the fact that he was where he was because of God’s plan for his life. By his scriptural statement he was demonstrating that he was willing to stay where he was and undergo what he was dealing with because he trusted God with the situation.
In today’s world, the guidance of our lives by God Himself is not enough for us. Even the minor details of life have to be changed because one can’t stand something that is not in line with what they feel is true and good for them. Every detail of life is a point of irritation if someone simply doesn’t like it. Life has to go perfectly for the people of today. Let me point out something very true: God has never said that we would have everything we want. What He has stated is that He will provide for His Children what they need. Wants and needs are two different things. Most people, as long as they have a credit card, will deny themselves very little. People plop down a card and fulfill their desire without thinking too much about the fact that it has to be paid for at some point in time.
I was talking to a man one time trying to help him navigate the problems he was having in a very troubled family situation. Since, many times, the kind of trouble he was experiencing are brought on by troublesome financial situations, I asked him if he owed any money on credit cards. He grimaced and said “Yes” and that that was the biggest part of his situation. I asked him how much he owed on credit cards and he said that he owed the terrible sum of $88,000. I also asked him if he could lay his hand on anything that the $88,000 had bought for him. He thought for a minute and then, very embarrassingly said, “NO.” His family was about to break up and he could not think of a thing that the credit cards had bought him. Now, I ask…did he need any of that merchandise? NO! he did not. He wanted it and had the means to get it. He was not content in life without all the stuff he thought he “had to have.” He was discontented and did not do as Paul did and say…”I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be contented.”
Hebrews 13:5 would have been a valuable piece of advice if he had applied it for in it the writer of Hebrews said: “Let your manner of life be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have; for He hath said, I will never leave thee, not forsake thee.”
There is nothing wrong with trying to improve oneself. Everyone wants to better their situation and improve life but this is not what I am addressing in this article. I focusing on people who make having things their god. They can’t do without anything and nothing ever really satisfies them. When I came along, we always applauded a person who could build a nice home. No one thought that they were “gobbing” on a lot of material things. They celebrated with the family. But these people were 40 to 50 years old. They had worked hard and now, finally, they were in a position to provide a nicer home for their family. Into today’s world, the young married people think that they should start off with what the earlier people worked forty years for. And, they think that they are being cheated if they don’t start off with a new home an all the accoutrements. New everything!
Many of us know of people who have had, from the very first, a house more expensive than the person of years ago would have ever built. They live in it a while and then its not good enough so the sell it and move into a more expensive and plush home. Not long after the whole process in repeated and they move into a luxury home. It doesn’t matter if they can afford it or not, something is wrong here. There is an inward problem. They cannot be contented and will not state what Paul said when he stated in Phil. 4:11….”Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be contented. Somehow, life is just not good enough for them. Their “wanter” is turned on full force and satisfaction can never be found.
Of course, the example above is only one which is applicable. It seems that there is no limit to the examples we could cite in making a point about the lack of contentedness in human life. Just look around. Most people can never be satisfied. They are trying to fill a spiritual void in their lives with “things,” and it cannot be done. Things will never fill up a void where God should be. And, when He is in the heart, then we can be contented knowing that He is in charge and that faithful people can rest assured that all will be well with them.
I encourage all of our readers to take a good look at 1 Timothy 6:5-7. This passage of scripture penned by the Apostle Paul gives us some wonderful advice. It says: “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness; from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain; For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” That cannot be improved upon by anything I might say.
People who know God intimately and trust God totally can be people who are content with their lives. But, people who do not know His Son Jesus Christ and therefore are made a part of the family of God will never find contentedness as they live their lives in a world which is dominated by satan and his demonic minions, Ephesians 2: 1-3.
Contentment is not found in the lives of those who are part of the world system and continually give themselves over to it. It should be noted that satan has the ability to give people the things of this world. He also makes them think that since they are prospering, they are godly and that God is blessing them. He fools people that way. Having a lot and getting accolades from the world’s system is not necessarily a sign of God’s blessings. Be careful who you give credit to for your possessions and positions.
Contentment is an offshoot of trusting God and His Son Jesus with your life. Give your life to Jesus Christ and God will give you the capacity to be Content.
