Satisfied in Jesus

Contentment

True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.

Gilbert K. Chesterton 1874-1936, British Author

Phil 4:11-13
Not that I speak from want, for 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. NASU

Joseph Addison once said that a contented mind is the greatest treasure that a man could achieve while in this world. I tend to agree, it is of course what frames the pictures that we look at every day and it is the essence of what circles within our bosoms as we walk through the desires and circumstances that dance around us daily in this world.

Most of the people that you and I see everyday have a whirlwind going on inside of them, smiles hide the turmoil that is boiling inside. It may be an early argument at home, a conflict at the office, or a problem that is coming in their future, or desires that are out of control, but all have problems nonetheless. There is no place this side of heaven where you and I are going to live without a problem, for that is what heaven is all about, isn’t it, and that’s why we sing about Glory and long for it with such eagerness.

The difference is in how we deal with those problems. Do we let them deal with us or do we let Jesus deal with them. The ways in which we deal with our problems can either make us stronger, or can make us the jello that the world shakes up at every turn. Paul tells us that when the world reaches into his chest and tries to set his world on fire, he turns those things over to the One who can quench the fiery darts of Satan. In Ephesians 6:16 he tells us to put on the shield of faith to be able to stand against the fiery arrows the devil casts at us daily.

These are the fiery arrows that start in the mind and end in the erosion of your stomach lining, and pop the tops on many bottles of Tylenol daily. It is the daily battle of mind and emotion that you cannot win without Gods help, and He stands ready and willing to help us all. The problems people are struggling with today, and will face tomorrow, are not any different than those faced by others in the past. Just as Paul found that contentment, we can too, if we will only take our burdens to the foot of the Cross, and lay them down there and walk away. We will find contentment when we “know and trust” who holds our tomorrow…God Bless.

Pastor William