Have you ever thought before, about contentment? You probably like me are familiar with the definition of the word, but how often does it come up in your conversation? I find for me even in the spiritual circles that I relate in, that it's not a common topic of conversation. In my own vocabulary I tend to use the word satisfied, even though both words are synonyms, content seems, to my ears anyway, to imply more. Now, I don't know what the more is, it could possibly be rest; that in my mind, it seems to invoke a stillness that is not communicated through the use of the word satisfied.
It is very interesting to me that in a passage where Paul declares that, 'he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.' Before declaring this statement of fact, he imparts a real nugget, a diamond of spiritual truth that has escaped the majority of the 'Grace & Faith' crowd, of which I am one! In here Paul tells us that he has, 'LEARNED to be content... and in every circumstance I have LEARNED the secret of...' For most of my life I have thought that once you have everything you want, or once you have been everywhere you want to go, seen everything you want to see, that then I would be satisfied, CONTENT! Now it seems that this type of lifestyle is the worst way to live if you want to be content.
If we want to be content we might have to LEARN the secret that Paul was talking about in the passage above. Because in his words you find the beginning of contentment, you see it's not about what you have or what you don't have. In fact, you could say truly that if you have nothing, if you are hungry, if you are in want you can still be CONTENT! Not having needs, and being prosperous does not guarantee contentment, because contentment is a secret that we learn through Christ who gives us strength!
Remember, It is no longer I who lives,
Martin
