Are You Discontented with Being Content?

Mike Hosey, Elder

The newspaper columnist, Doug Larson, once expressed a profound biblical truth – though he probably didn’t know it.  Observing the humanity all about him, he noted that, “The world is full of people looking for spectacular happiness while they snub contentment.”

What Larson was noticing was that people will chase after something they can’t have, and which may not even be achievable -- like “spectacular happiness” -- and by doing so, they scorn the happiness of a contented life of enjoying the good things they already have.  Such truth is captured in many different scriptures, but one that stands out is Ecclesiastes 6:9, which teaches that chasing after desires and appetites, instead of enjoying what you see and have, is like chasing after the wind.  It’s meaningless.

The enlightenment era French philosopher, Voltaire, once argued that the good is the enemy of the great.  In some respects this is true.  For instance, one can miss out on greatness because he’s too lazy to seize the greatness right in front of him.  But more often, I’ve witnessed the opposite of Voltaire’s statement. I’ve seen people so caught up in chasing the great, that they’ve missed out on the good wife, children, job, friends, life or whatever you want to fill-in-the-blank with, because they were chasing something that even if they caught it, they wouldn’t even be able to hold on to it. In fact, the greatness they were expending so much energy trying to catch was the enemy of many good things.

Unfortunately, the modern culture in which we live tends to foster this sense of discontent. Commercials, billboards, and all manner of salesman pitch to you that what you own is old, or worn out, or no longer shiny, or doesn’t do enough for you. Then they show you their new, shiny, slicer, dicer, depression reducing, anxiety restraining, cancer killing, lawn mowing, baby-sitting smart phone that you just must have.  And you’re hooked.  After all, the only thing you have to do is work a few more hours, spend a couple of days away from home, get up a little earlier, go to bed a little later, handle a little more stress and you, too, can have it.

But that’s a trap. Instead, follow the path of Paul (Philippians 4:12-13) and be content with God meeting your needs, and then strive to align your desires with His.