“Yeah, I’m content!”— You’re kidding, right? That just might be the most common lie on earth. Listen to yourself! Maybe you ought to record what you say throughout the day and play it back to yourself before bed time each night. Listen to yourself carefully. In total disregard for what the Bible says we indict ourselves everyday. We are always pining, reaching, craving, and begging for something more, something else, something bigger, better, or different. And it’s not just about material things, although that might be number one on the list, it has to do with every area of life.
The Bible says,”– having food and raiment, let us be therewith content“(1 Tim. 6:8), and “be content with such things as ye have“( Heb. 13:5), but who is? Very very few! That’s bad enough, but it’s even worse that we keep lying about it— as though God doesn’t know and others can’t tell. Your words bear witness against you. We’re like a bunch of spoiled brats, never satisfied with what we have and/or where we are in life. Have you noticed that covetousness and complaining go hand in hand? We can’t keep our mouths shut. Eventually we end up revealing what is in our heart. We don’t like our situation and we’re going to tell someone about it.
Even when we are forced by evidence to admit that we aren’t content we come up with some explanation to excuse it. Is that not an evidence that we don’t really believe that “all things work together for good“? We accept the good but complain about the bad. But the command to be content doesn’t change with the circumstances. We are to be content regardless of our situation–good, bad, or ugly. Does that sound unreasonable to you? Probably so. It just doesn’t seem right that we are to be content when we’ve been wronged. Surely, we think, the wrong gives us the right to vent our frustration, so we allow ourselves to be controlled by our feelings.
No one can force you to be content. You are the only one who can do that. Ask yourself this question, “Does my discontent and complaining make things any better? The answer is “No”. Since that’s the case, ask yourself this question, “Would I be happier if I obeyed the Bible by being ‘content with such things‘ as I have?” There’s your answer. We make ourselves miserable. We can blame the other person or God all we want but in the end we have only ourselves to blame. No one can take your happiness–it must be surrendered and we give it up when we allow ourselves to be discontent. Remember, those who deserve nothing, should be content with everything, and not complain about anything. God help us all!–HDS
