Content or Not Content, that is the Question.

                Recently I picked up an old booklet on contentment by a Puritan named Jeremiah Burroughs.  It is providential that I have it in my possession since 98% of my books are in storage, we are between homes, and since I am prone to discontentment.  I have gleaned much from the pages of his work and thought that you might benefit from those gleanings as well.  Here are some thoughts on contentment.             

                The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11 , “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (ESV).  The word translated content, in its most literal sense, can only be attributed to God, for God alone is all sufficient.  He rests fully satisfied in and with Himself alone.  He is perfectly content.  So, Paul is saying I have a self-sufficiency that enables me to be content in whatever situation I find myself in.  In 2 Corinthians 3:5 he wrote that we are not sufficient (or content) in ourselves, “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (ESV).  Paul denied any sufficiency of his own, but declared that his sufficiency was from God. Therefore, true Christian contentment is a sufficiency or satisfaction in our own hearts, through the grace of Christ that is in us. 

             In other words, the Christian’s contentment is not rooted in self, but in Christ.  According to Hebrews 13:5, “Be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you” (ESV).  We can (and should) be content that Christ has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  But often we are not content.

            Discontentment can be evidenced by an anxious spirit.  Contentment is not just the ability to control our words or expressions so that others think we are content.  Many may sit silently, refraining from discontented expressions, yet inwardly they are bursting with a discontented spirit.  That is not contentment.  How often it is that I know the right words to say, Scriptures to quote, and expressions to make, yet within I am in turmoil. 

                We could also be discontent if we are distracted from what we know God wants us to do.  For example, if I find myself so consumed with (fill in the blank) that I am distracted from my personal devotions, family devotions, the ministry of the church, and the Great Commission (those things that I know God expects of me) then I am giving evidence that I am discontent.  Contentment is not characterized by an unsettled and unstable spirit that distracts the heart from the present duty that God requires in our relationships—towards God, others, and ourselves. 

                Finally, discontentment is evidenced by sinking discouragements.  Often (not always) our deep discouragements and depression can be traced to the root of discontentment.  We are unhappy with the place God has us in and find ourselves discontent.  That discontentment takes root and grows until it begins to bear the fruits of deep discouragement, internal darkness, and even depression.  So what does it mean to be content?

                Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.  Contentment is a matter of the heart.  It is an inward contentment.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 62:1, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation” (ESV).  Again in Psalm 62:5, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” (ESV).  Not only does the Psalmist hold his tongue, but his soul is silent as well.  His contentment is a matter of the heart.  Contentment is an inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit.  The contentment of a man or woman who is rightly content does not come so much from outward arguments or help, as from the disposition of their own hearts. 

                Contentment is freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God’s disposal.  It is the understanding that the Lord knows how to order things better than we do.  I only see things at present, but the Lord sees a great while from now.  That is how Paul could write in 2 Corinthians 6:10, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” (ESV).  True contentment is content in sorrow, poverty, and lack because it knows God is in control.  We are usually apt to think that any condition is better than that condition in which God has placed us.  No one has it as difficult as we do.  This is not contentment.  We are not potters.  We are the clay. Therefore, we must not attempt to be our own carvers.  Whatever particular afflictions God may place us in, we must be content in them knowing that they are not coincidental, but exactly where God wants us at this time.  Would it not be great if it could be said of us that though our circumstances are changed, yet we are the same.  This is how we are to submit to the disposal of God in every condition.

                Contentment is not merely one act—just a flash in a good mood.  You find many men and women who, if they are in a good mood, will be very quiet.  Contentment is not a mood, it is a character trait that can only be given by God’s grace through the power of His Spirit working through the written Word of God.  Are you content?  Really content?  If not, get into the Word of God dependent upon the Spirit of God to pour out the grace of God upon you.  Find your joy, satisfaction, and sufficiency in Christ.  Rest in His Sovereignty, wisdom, omniscience, power, and providence and get ready to fight the same battle tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.  “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” 1 Tim 6:6-8 ESV.