Daily Journal: 9 April

Contentment Is Learned

Contentment can often feel illusive. It may sometimes be mixed up with peace or happiness. Do we give it sufficient thought to understand it?

What is contentment?

Contentment: a feeling of happiness or satisfaction (Oxford dictionary)

Contentious: highly disagreeable (Oxford dictionary)

We feel contented when our experience in life is agreeable and satisfactory to us and causes a sense of happiness or ease. We feel contentious when life is out of order, when we're being mistreated, or we've been misunderstood.

What does the bible say about contentment?

Philippians 4:12-13

(NLV) I know how to get along with little and how to live when I have much. I have learned the secret of being happy at all times. If I am full of food and have all I need, I am happy. If I am hungry and need more, I am happy. I can do all things because Christ gives me the strength.

(GNT) I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.

We often take the last verse to mean God gives us the strength to do anything we need, which involves an action on our part. But this verse shows us it’s in relation to resting in Him.

Whatever situation we’re in, the bible calls us to meet it with a sense of rest, or contentment, as we look to God for direction and strength, not the experience or the outcome we might be able to bring about in a situation.

The underlying issue is how we approach our needs being met. Mostly, we try and change the circumstances to meet our needs.

A smaller margin of people in the world can change their circumstances to suit their needs compared to those who can’t because they might have the financial capital to equip them. When they become used to what they thought would make them content, and they desire something else, they change their circumstances again. Does this bring true contentment or is it really a chasing after an illusive need to be satisfied that is never fulfilled?

Biblical contentment is learned. We must learn to live within any experience without restlessness or bitterness, by receiving strength from God, even when we can't change our circumstance.

We can practise contentment in the small, everyday things of life – being content in traffic, being peaceful in disagreeable conversations, being at rest when something unexpected arises rather than fearful or agitated – trusting that our strength and direction is coming from the Lord God as our anchor and our hope.

I pray that we grasp how contentment is learned, for ourselves. I pray we can trust in God as the bedframe underneath the mattress of contentment that we rest on.