Contentment Is Not Complacency
One of the great misconceptions about contentment is that it means complacency. To our culture, the contented person must be a simpleton or lazy—much like the “contented cow” of the old commercials—without passion or purpose in life. Nothing could be further from the truth for those who belong to Christ!
When you first encounter the Savior and His heart of love for you, an unworthy sinner, the passion to know more of Him begins. Your heart is awakened to a peace and joy in Jesus that makes you thirsty for more. The true satisfaction for which your soul longed is found in intimate relationship with Him.
Thus begins the adventure of a life of faith. Genuinely intimate union with Jesus requires dying to our old nature—and its self-centered desires and priorities—and aligning our desires and priorities with His. By communing with Him in the Word and in prayer, our hearts become attuned to what Christ wants and our passion builds for His kingdom purposes. The greatest contentment is found when we are walking in His will, even though that path might lead to challenges and suffering.
When my husband and I planted our church, we were busy day and night ministering to our fledgling flock while facing criticism and opposition from unexpected places. Our eyes welled with exhaustion and tears, yet we were strangely and warmly content. We knew God had called us to our task, and we would not have stepped out of His will for any reason! We chose to live each day as it came, knowing that God didn’t make mistakes. He had a purpose for every trial we encountered. As we accepted His portion for us each day, God poured out His loving presence upon us like “the richest of foods.”
To this day, when I find myself restless and unsatisfied with my life it becomes a red warning flag that somehow I have stepped out of God’s will for me. When I am not experiencing His peace that passes comprehension in an area of my life, I know it is time to do some self-examination. Have I kept that area unyielded to Christ’s control? Have I willfully disobeyed a direction from the Lord? Sin will oppress a heart and rob it of intimacy with the Lord. Dear child of God, be discontent with that state! Ask the Lord to reveal to you the secret sin you are harboring. Then confess and repent of it. He will forgive you and restore you to that sweet, satisfying communion with Him.
In order to walk contentedly in Christ, remember Oswald Chambers’s advice: “The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God.”[i]
Dear Jesus, You are the glorious and sovereign Lord, and Your love is better than life! Give me a passion for Your will above my own, for I want to live a life worthy of You. Amen.
