Finding Contentment in Discontent

Only a week had gone by since posting “Leaving La La Land” when our roller coaster took another sudden dip. My initial thought was “Now you’ve gone and done it Nance, you gave the enemy more ammo. That’s what you get for boasting of a relatively easy life”. A superstitious person would think their luck was jinxed. But I don’t believe in luck, only blessings, and this didn’t feel anything like a blessing. I needed a double dose of the joy of the Lord. But, how could I be happy when I was not? How can I be joyful in the sad times when joy seems to be fleeting? Looking back it feels like my joy was just an illusion. Do you ever feel this way? Im ashamed to say I did; I was downright discontented.

Let’s face it, sometimes life is hard, even for a girl who’s had it easy most of her life, as I have professed. I suppose that it is apropos to come back to the reality of this world and get my head out of the clouds. I wallowed in self-pity for a bit, “Oh woe is me for thinking I had it easy”. But truth be told, we all have to deal with hard things.

In the Bible, just a few verses down from my life-changing verse in the book of Philippians about not being anxious, but rather receiving the peace that surpasses all understanding through prayer and thanksgiving, guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus, Paul goes on to say, he’s learned the secret of contentment.

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4: 11-13)

There it is! Did you catch that? He can get through “all” circumstances, the good, the bad and the ugly, through Jesus Christ who strengthens him. He is referring to the power of the Holy Spirit living in him, the same Holy Spirit who lives within us who believe. This is how Jesus carries our burdens, or should I say carries us through our burdens. He gives us strength when we think we will fall. He lifts our head when we want to wallow in self-pity. Father God allows us to go through tough circumstances because when we come out on the other side (and we will), we find purpose in our pain.

Jesus loves us so much, He was willing to die for us to make things right between us and the Father. That was the purpose in His pain. Let us remember, He was an overcomer, so we can be too. He overcame the hardest thing of all, death and the grave. When we finally overcome our greatest hardships, we can tell others and help them through the same things. It’s all about Jesus and telling others what He did for us. That is the great commission.

Contentment

Contentment is not losing hope when you’re down, and rejoicing when you’re up. It is this kind of mindset that lets one say “my life is relatively easy’. It is remembering David’s words in Psalm 56:8 NLT, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.” Your tears are precious to God, your pain and discontentment do not go unnoticed.

When I was young, as a disobedient teenager, my parents would punish me for my wrong behavior. Through my tears, not necessarily because of my behavior, but rather the consequences, my parents would say, “this hurts me a lot more than it hurts you.” That never made sense to me until I had a child of my own to discipline. When you see your child in tears, it hurts. What parent wants to see their child suffer? My suffering came from a week or a month of being grounded with no telephone. Having to sit around the house and ponder my shame was the worst. What little I knew. Hmmm, little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems… you catch my drift?

Those tears I cried started to produce better behavior in me. Sometimes our trials and pain is part of the Lord’s discipline to produce a harvest of righteousness in us. It is written, “My child, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as his child. (Hebrews 12:6) The hard things, the consequences, the circumstances, be they from your own actions or that of another, shape us and make us who we are and who we are to become.

I notice about Paul and his contentment that he never compares himself to anyone. He never looks at what others have that he does not. I’ve also noticed that when I look at what others have that I do not, discontentment is quick to follow. God’s purpose and plan for each of us is different. If we want to find contentment in our discontent, we must be stirred to the point of realizing just how much we need Jesus. But, be prepared, because once you get to that point, your life will take on new meaning and a totally different direction.

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us His Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.” (Romans 5:3-5)

As far as getting my head out of the clouds as I previously stated, sometimes keeping it in the clouds is not a bad thing. For there we are seated with Christ in heavenly places (full context Ehpesians 2:4-7). Keeping our eyes on Jesus in the heavenly reality, gets us through the hard times in this worldly reality. Then we begin to understand and experience how to be joyful in the midst of heartache. The “joy of the Lord” is our strength, it gets us through the tough times. This is not ordinary joy, there is something exceptional about it and it’s yours for the asking.

Another aid to finding contentment when you’re not feeling content is praising God in the midst of it. When you read Psalm 42 (ESV), you can see it has a title: Book Two, “Why are You Cast Down, O my Soul?”. The psalmist is crying out to God. His soul thirsts for relief. But just as King David did in many of the psalms he penned, this psalmist questions himself and instructs his own soul saying, “Hope in God. I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God”. Through the joy of the Lord, and praising God even when you don’t feel like it, you can find contentment in your discontent and move on to better days. I know I did! I hope you will too, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.