Contentment: Soul Satisfaction

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

Contentment at times can be like a mirage of a life-promising oasis. The closer you get, the further away that which we desire becomes, like a vapor of disappointment. Contentment is something we all want yet can seldom define. Living in our world, it is a thirst that can not be quenched. Instead of feelings of peace, security, and satisfaction, emptiness echoes in the hallways of our hearts.

The boxer Muhammad Ali was known as "the champ," arguably the most famous athlete of his generation. He was on top, and his entourage of trainers and various helpers shared the adulation with him. But the party ended, leaving many of Ali's loyal followers disillusioned--and in some cases, destitute. Ali himself, now halting in speech and uncertain in movement, says "I had the world, and it wasn't nothin'."

This has not been a week of contentment for me. I have been mugged by a gang of contentment robbers. To quote the king “I’m all shook up.” A surgery gone wrong, additional appointments and tests. There has also been unpleasant new procedures. More blood transfusions and another round of trial drugs to fight off a stubborn infection. Most disappointing to me, all of this has prolonged timelines and has sidelined me temporarily on the transplant list.

All of this brings feelings of frustration, worry, anger, impatience, and loneliness. I stand watching contentment sailing over the horizon, leaving me stranded on the shores of discontentment.

The dictionary defines contentment as feelings and showing of satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, and situations. The goal of satisfaction is shallow and not very satisfying. Our society views satisfaction as simply good enough. This, at best, is a very temporary settling for our current situation.

Our god is too often materialism. Advertising slowly drugs our minds, emotions, and will. The mission is to never allow us to reach any level of contentment. Products often have built in a planned obsoleteness. This means before you get your new computer out of the box, there is already a computer that is bigger, better, and faster. That which you could not do without will be tomorrow’s junk. Our society is depending on the fact that you will never be content.

The world is full of people who are making a good living but living poor lives. source unknown

Corrie ten Boom said, “I've learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!"

True contentment calls us to a soul satisfaction. Contentment is much more than a feeling. It is a heart that is totally consumed and satisfied in Jesus.

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:11-13

Paul provides for us a portrait of contentment. This was not a picture painted in some mountaintop retreat or the safe confines of academia. Paul’s studio is a prison. His canvas is a life filled with persecution and every imaginable pain. His future seems dangerously uncertain. His contentment is not a result of his giftedness, self-effort or discipline. Yet somehow, Paul has learned an eternal secret—how to be content in “whatever circumstances.”

Paul discovers contentment by living a life that would satisfy few of us. Paul has contentment because he desires, and will settle for nothing less than, the fullness of God found in Christ alone.
Contentment is not a matter of getting what I want, but in intimately knowing and experiencing what I have. That is why in spite of his circumstances and needs, Paul can say with a Holy confidence and anticipation: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!”

Contentment does not come from trying to escape our lives. It is not about emptying our selves, but by being totally filled with His presence. Contentment is not about desiring less, but supremely more.

Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:4-6

Contentment floods my life as my soul delights and is satisfied with my God who is love, mercy, grace, wisdom, provider, protector and strength. This contentment changes and molds my life. I can have a deep confidence in Christ. I slowly cease from striving and enjoy His rest. I must surrender concerns about my future to the Composer of my days. I will learn to set aside the futility of accumulating that which is temporal and only drains away my contentment. I will live in wonder as God opens before me His treasure chest of spiritual blessings.

* I will remember that I am a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus.
* I will totally depend on God meeting every need according to His riches in Christ.
* I will make my heart’s desire to worship and glorify God.

In Him, I will be completely satisfied. God guarantees it for no less than eternity.

So if you don’t mind, I will return to the garden of contentment where the Lover of my soul awaits.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear,
falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.
In The Garden - Words and Music by Charles Austin Miles

Dan