Learning to be Content

Phi 4:11-13

My Main Point: Let us learn to be content whatever the circumstances, daily casting ourselves and our cares on Christ, knowing that our contentment comes through Him alone.

1. Discontentment is destructive. (Gen 3; 1Ti 6:6‑10)

a. A discontent person has allowed a desire for something or someone other than Christ to rule his life. (Mat 10:37‑38)

i. Unmet desires are a fact of life.

ii. Each of us carry with us every day many unmet desires.

Every unmet desire is something that is not yet going the way I want it to.

iii. God calls us to be content with what we have, even as we carry our >backpack= of unmet desires. (Heb 13:5; 1Ti 6:8)

iv. Any desire becomes sinful whenever we let it become a ruling desires. (Gen 3)

b. A discontent person is so focused on what God has not yet granted him or done for him or delivered him from, that he gives little thought to the many wonderful evidences of God=s past grace that have overtaken him and the many wonderful promises of God=s future grace that await him.

c. A discontent person cannot be truly thankful or joyful (1Th 5:16‑18).

d. A discontent person cannot truly be at peace (Philip. 4:6‑7).

e. A discontent person is quite prone to sin against those who he believes is contributing to his discontentment by:

i. Becoming offended, resentful, bitter, and unforgiving. (Mat 6:15; Heb 12:15; 2Ti 2:24‑26)

ii. Complaining, grumbling, murmuring, engaging in gossip, slander, division, contention, quarrels, etc. (Mat 12:34b; Heb 12:15)

f. A discontent person is highly contagious. (Tit 3:10)

g. Long-term, low-grade discontent is discontentment in its most insidious form.

i. Long-term, low-grade discontent occurs in someone who is carrying around in his >backpack= a growing assortment of unmet desires, unfulfilled expectations, and unresolved offenses that have gradually accumulated over time, have not been biblically resolved, and are increasingly ruling his life and robbing his joy, even though he may be completely unaware that this is happening.

ii. As a result, this person finds himself gradually losing his sense of passion, joy, thankfulness, peace; and tends to become increasingly negative towards those they consider responsible for their disappointments.

2. Contentment must be learned. (Philip. 4:11-13)

a. Some definitions.

i. Circumstances - life in a fallen world: (financial circumstances, relational circumstances, health circumstances, church circumstances, etc.)

ii. Contentment - Accepting something as adequate despite wanting something more or better.

To be content is to be free from care because you are so satisfied with what is already yours.

iii. Contentment (autarkeôs [ow-tar=-kace] ) - To be content; to be happy; to be satisfied; to be self-sufficient (not a Stoic sufficiency in self, but God-sufficient - a sufficiency found only in Christ). Practical Word Studies in the New Testament. Learning to draw from the sufficiency and strength that is in Christ alone.

"You will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you've got." Mother Teresa

b. I must learn that true contentment is not based on how things are going (Awhatever the circumstances@).

AIt=s Christ in me that=s my hope of glory, not me in a different circumstance.@ Elizabeth Elliott

c. I must learn that in my life there will be God-ordained seasons of prosperity (>plenty,= >well fed=) and God-ordained seasons of adversity (>need,= >hungry,= >in want=) (and seasons of both).

d. I must learn that God won=t always change my circumstance in accordance with my desires or on my time table. But He=s always up to something good. (Isa 55:8‑9; Philip. 1:12‑18)

e. I must learn that: AHe does not treat us as our sins deserve, according to our iniquities. (Psa 103:10)@ Instead, He treated Jesus as my sins deserve, according to my iniquities. (Isa 53:5‑6)

AGod treated Jesus as though He had lived your life, so that He could treat you as though you had lived His life.@ John MacArthur

AYour sufferings are not so great as your sins. Put these two in the balance, and see which weighs heavier.@ Thomas Watson

ABrothers and sisters, the exhortation to you is to be content. Your pains are sharp, yet >his strokes are fewer than your crimes, and lighter than your guilt.= From the pains of hell Christ has delivered you. Why should a living man complain? As long as you are out of hell, gratitude may mingle with your groans." CH Spurgeon

f. I must learn that God orchestrates the circumstances of my life for His glory and my >good,= i.e.; to conform me more to the character of His Son, Jesus Christ. (Rom 8:28; Jam 1:2-4)

3. The power that produces contentment comes through Christ alone: AI can do everything through him who gives me strength.@(Philip. 4:13)

a. I must learn that I cannot carry these burdens in my own strength; I need His strength. (Mat 11:28‑30)

b. I must learn, therefore, to turn to Him and cast myself and my burdens before the One Who gives me strength. (Phi 4:6-7; 2Co 12:7‑10; 1Pe 4:6-7)

c. As I daily turn to and draw from Him, He will give me strength, because:

i. He has pledged to carry my anxieties. (1Pe 5:7)

AWhat worries does God aim to take from our backs and carry for us? Every kind. For example, anxieties about 1) lacking necessities (Phil. 4:4‑7); 2) being useless (Is. 55:11); 3) weakness (2 Cor. 12:9); 4) decisions (Psa. 32:8); 5) opponents (Rom. 8:31); 6) affliction (Psa 34:19; Rom. 5:3‑5); 7) aging (Is. 46:4); 8) dying (Rom. 14:7‑9); and 9) not persevering (Phil. 1:6; Heb. 7:25).@ John Piper^[1]

"When George Mueller was asked how he could be so calm in the middle of a hectic day with so many uncertainties in the orphanage, he answered something like, >I rolled sixty things onto the Lord this morning.'" John Piper

ii. He has pledged to carry my burdens (i.e.; "my lot"). (Psa 55:22)

AThe word for >burden= here is >lot.= What is your lot in life today? What has providence brought you? This is finally of the Lord. And He will carry it for you. It is not meant to crush you or carry you away. It is meant to test your trust in God to carry it for you. (See also Psa. 16:5; 63:8.)@ John Piper

iii. He has pledged to carry the cause of justice for me. (1Pe 2:23)

AIn almost every relationship of life you will be treated unjustly. >Jesus never called us to a fair fight= (George Otis). How will you not be embittered? By letting God carry your cause and settle accounts either on the cross or in hell. >Vengeance is mine, I will repay= (Rom. 12:19). Leave it to him. Prepare to be treated unjustly, whether it is someone breaking in front of you in line, or bearing false witness at the final trial of your life.@ John Piper

iv. He has pledged to carry me all my life. (Isa 46:3-4; 1Co 15:10)

v. He has already born my greatest burden - the burden of my sin. (Isa 53:11; Heb 9:28; 1Pe 2:24)

AIn the last week, what was the primary preoccupation in your life? What was your spiritual focus? Was it on the spot where God most revealshis persona love for you - the cross? Or was it your own circumstances, your own condition, your own concerns? Was your preoccupation with the pursuit of godliness? Growth in godliness must be pursued, but never apart from joyful gratitude for the cross.@ CJ Mahaney, Christ, Our Mediator, Mutinomah, 2004, p. 91

4. What About You (and Me)?

a. How content are you in this season of your life?

b. What unmet desires are affecting your contentment?

c. What is God calling you to do with those unmet desires?

ASo come to Him, all you who labor and are heavy laden and find rest for your soul. Go deep with God and know him better by venturing more on his pledge to carry you and all your concerns.@ John Piper

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^[1]Unless otherwise noted, all John Piper quotes are taken from John Piper, Going Deep with God By Having Him Carry Our Loads, October 31, 2000