When we visited Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park with a frontier theme, there were virtually no lines, and we went easily from major attraction to major attraction, in many cases walking right on. If the kids really enjoyed the ride, they stayed on and rode again.
My then six-year-old daughter Kelsey was having the time of her life. After about three hours, however, I noticed something curious. She jumped off some little cars; she had ridden a train, a log ride, a Ferris wheel, a flying school bus- you name it. Her words, however, revealed a spirit that was getting more hungry, not less: "What's next?" she asked, with a slightly desperate edge to her voice.
That's when I realized there's never quite enough excitement to quiet the human heart. We'll never have as much excitement as we want. This has been true from the beginning of time. (Gary Thomas, Authentic Faith, p.175)THE DESIRE FOR MORE
Christmas is just around the corner. If you have children, grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, the chances are you will see this same insatiable desire for more somewhere in the room on Christmas morning. To their parents horror, a child will finish opening their presents and ask the question, "Is that all?" The excitement over receiving new toys, electronics or clothes will yield to an entitlement to receive much more.
Discontent is the inevitable offspring of desiring more, and the desire for more has taken up arms within all of our hearts. At worst, it aggressively and relentlessly assaults our minds and sensibilities. At best, it lies dormant for a season, deceptively lulling us to sleep, waiting to subtly stir up the latent darkness within us. We must remain vigilant and watchful over our desires or we will be overcome by them.
THE NATURE OF CONTENTMENT
Here are the staggering words from a man who knows a thing or two about overcoming the fleshly desire for more and better; a man who endured grueling labors, numerous stints in prison, countless beating and torture that brought him to the brink of death, all for his faithful preaching of the gospel; a man who received 39 lashes on five occasions, was beaten with rods three different times and stoned on another occasion; a man who was shipwrecked three times at sea, one of which left him floating in the wreckage for 24 hours; a man who is "in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure" (2 Cor. 11:23-27); a man who, as he penned these words was sitting in prison under threat of execution:
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Phil. 4:11-12)The Apostle Paul is saying that contentment isn't dependent upon or related to our circumstances. Rather, contentment is calibrated to the defining realities of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Contentment has nothing to do with your situation, and has everything to do with your aspirations.
THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT
Matt Chandler, in his book on Philippians, says this about Paul wrote in those verses:
Paul has adopted the revolutionary position that he has no needs. All his needs have been met in Jesus, so all he has left are wants. He is honest about what he wants, but even those are shaped by his satisfaction in Christ. Paul is not perfect, and he never claims to be, but he has "learned", remember, that when he is starving, suffering, imprisoned, and even dying, he still has everything, because he has Christ. If Christ is all, and he has Christ, then he really has no needs. (Matt Chandler, To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain, p. 205-206)Paul endured suffering and lack and found Christ to be enough to produce contentment. But Paul had stretches of abundance as well, which is more the reality that we live within. Chandler goes on,
We live in a world where there is more to do than there has ever been in the history of mankind. There are more things to see, more place to go, and easier means to get there. We live in the most entertained world that humanity has ever experienced, and yet most of us are bored out of our minds and frustrated...
What Paul was able to do was enjoy the abundance for what it was, as a gift from God for a time, but contentment means being satisfied not with the gifts but with the Giver. And this makes all the difference. A failure to understand that distinction is why it is so hard for rich people to follow Jesus. Because money doesn't satisfy- but so many of those with lots of wealth think they will reach contentment if they just get "more". But "more" is a desire that never ends. (Matt Chandler, To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain, p. 208, 210)The secret to contentment is actually staying discontent. There is a ruthless discontent rooted in the deceitful desires for more which threaten to corrupt all of our hearts. And there is a righteous discontent grounded in a consuming desire to know Christ more fully.
Are you being driven by a discontent with your circumstances and resenting the hand that God has dealt you, or are you being driven by a discontent with your own sinful heart and resting in what God has accomplished for you? The secret to contentment is cultivating a desire for more of Jesus in our lives that always leaves us discontent with our current maturity in Christ. This is not a discontent that causes restlessness about our salvation in Jesus, but a discontent with anything and everything that robs us of our satisfaction in Jesus.
So what robs you of your desire for more of Jesus? What causes indifference in your pursuit of Christ? What distracts you from the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus?
And what fosters in you a delight in Christ? What creates a sense of deep longing for more of Him? What reminds you and highlights for you, the riches of God's grace? What leaves your soul thirsting and yearning for greater intimacy with Jesus?
One way or another, your life will be defined by discontent. The question is what particular brand of discontent will define yours.
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