Restless Contentment, by Will

This is an idea I've wrestled with for a few years, maybe close to a decade now that I stop and think about it. Philippians 4 calls us to be content with the circumstances we face in life, my mind immediately goes to Gandalf and Frodo in the Fellowship of the Ring, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you." We cannot control what life throws at us, all we can do is choose how we handle it. Content calls for trust in God, for surrender to God, and a proper focus in life.

Then you turn back to Philippians 3, and we are called to a relentless pursuit of Christ, constantly striving to get closer to Christ. We are never to be satisfied with how much we know God, or how much like Christ we are. We are forget about everything, setting every hindrance aside, so that we may run faster after Christ so that we may know Him more and become more like Him. This is a call for restlessness in our relationship with Christ.

We are called to be restlessly content, there's a contradiction. Restless means, "always moving" while contentment is defined, "satisfied". One is always striving for more, while the other fulfilled. These two terms don't seem to go together, and yet as I've studied the Bible and lived life for the past ten years I've felt that these two characteristics provide the perfect balance for where I need to live.

I know a pastor, one of the best men I know, and he once shared with me an illustration that captures this idea of restless contentment, or content restlessness, (I think I prefer the first term), by drawing from the words of two men, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New.

The Old Testament contains two verses about a man who prayed a prayer that he became well known for. It is the only thing we know that he said, and other than his prayer we know that he had brothers, of whom he was the most honorable, and his mother gave him the name because she bore him with pain (1 Chronicles 4.9). That's all we get, they we have his prayer, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!", and we are told that God granted his request (1 Chronicles 4.10).

The prayer of Jabez seeks blessing, increased influence, and the presence and protection of God. It's a solid prayer, I've read the book, and I've prayed this way. But I see one small problem, there is a lot of focus on Jabez. He is seeking God, but he is seeking God for his benefit. God, bless me, give me more territory, be with me, keep me safe. He is seeking God's power, and due to the facts that he was a man of honor, and that God granted his request, his prayer was probably uttered with the right motives, but as one who is striving to become an Old Testament Scholar, I'm trying to read the text with a more critical eye.

Jump ahead several centuries to the early first century AD. John the Baptist has gathered a following and is baptizing those who come to him in the Jordan River. He's become quite popular, but then one day someone else comes on the scene, and the crowds begin to flock to him. Those who are most loyal to John express their concern, and John tells them that a man cannot receive anything that heaven does not bestow upon him. He points out that those who are concerned have heard his message preparing the way for the Messiah, and concludes his statement that now that the Messiah has arrived, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3.30"

Restless contentment results when we combine the prayer of Jabez with the heart of John the Baptist. This statement says, "God, use me big, but keep me small." This prayer wants to know God more intimately so that God can be more intimately known by others, but the one offering this prayer does not seek their own advancement. This prayer wants to constantly pursue God so that they can be used greatly by God, but the desire to be used by God is not for their own glory and recognition but for God's.

Contentment frees you to be restless about what really matters. When we are content with our place, with what God has given us to do, we are free of the pressure to perform, and able to surrender to God and be used to build His Kingdom. The point of all of this is to make God more greatly known so that He can be more fully glorified.

Restless contentment seeks to know God, help others know God, and give glory to God alone. Let us all strive to be restlessly content.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

Restlessness, by Will

I really want to learn to be content in all things. I've missed so much of life because my mind was always on the next step. My focus was on the destination, and I overlooked the fact that life is about the journey. My refusal to be content, has resulted in a lot of wasted time, a lot of unrealized blessings, and a lot of ungrateful longing.

I've been frustrated over work and career things. I've been frustrated by relationships. I've been frustrated by life in general. Overall, a large portion of the last decade plus has been one big unsatisfying clump of time that I spent wishing for one thing or another, and finding myself greatly disappointed when things didn't go as I planned or expected them to. Failing at the career path I had felt called to purse, being overlooked for opportunities and jobs, dealing with a divorce, all of those things left me with an unsatisfying and angry attitude that was far from contentment.

I've been restless about a lot of things in my life, in some ways I'm still very restless. I have a hard time sitting still and always feel like I need to be doing something. When there is nothing to do immediately I find myself wasting time on YouTube. The reality is, restlessness is part of life. We weren't made to simply sit by, do nothing, and call it contentment, that sort of thinking is part of what drove me nuts and pushed me to the place I was in. There is a biblical form of restlessness that we are to pursue.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.7-14)

Biblical restlessness is the endless pursuit of Christlikeness. We should always be seeking to gain Christ, always pushing the limits of faith for deeper righteousness, seeking to fully live in the power of His resurrection. We should be restless, refusing to be satisfied with our relationship with Jesus, always pursuing deeper intimacy with Him. I am never to be content with how much I know Jesus, I am never to be content simply in the fact that I have been saved from sin. My goal should be to grow closer to Christ everyday, restlessly pursuing Him, and refusing to give up the chase for as long as I have breath in my lungs.

This sort of restless pursuit is only possible when I have learned to be content with everything else. It is only when I have learned to be satisfied with where God has me in life that I can give up chasing the next thing, and enjoy where He has me as I grow closer to Him, becoming more like Him, so that I can live more for Him.

Learn to be content, so you can restlessly pursue Christ.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

Contentment, by Will

I listened to a book this past week that wasn't what I was expecting. The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Robert Lustig ultimately talks about how sugar is evil, and the need for instant gratification fuels our need for "the other white powder". While the book contains a lot of fascinating information, I learned that you can buy a Coca-Cola anywhere in the world except for North Korea, that eggs are pretty much the best single food you can eat, and that kids who sleep with a cell phone in their room sleep less than kids who don't, the biggest thing that stood out to me was the concept of happiness vs. contentment.

I'm going to pull out one of the most misquoted verses of the Bible in this post, so anyone who reads this is no longer allowed to misquote this passage. Philippians 4.13 says, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Any Bible verse I quote, unless otherwise indicated, is the NASB. I prefer this translation because it is the most literal translation of the original text).

As with any Biblical reference, context is crucial to understand what the author meant. Typically, this verse is taken by itself to mean that Christ will empower us to do anything, but that is not the meaning Paul was trying to communicate to the Philippian Church. The context says this,

"But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 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. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction." -Philippians 4.10-14

The key to this passage is found in verse 11, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." Paul is saying that He has found contentment in Christ, and can endure anything he faces because of the strength Christ gives him. Paul is not speaking of experiencing happiness, this man's life after Christ was full of struggles, read 2 Corinthians 11.24-31. Happiness was never his goal, and it shouldn't be ours. Happiness is fleeting, and when that becomes the goal we seek high after high, always needing more because we build up a tolerance, as Lustig points out. The goal, and the only way to find true satisfaction and joy, is to live for something other than an emotion that is so conditional upon external circumstances. The goal is joy that only comes from contentment in Christ.

Life is hard, and quite often it isn't fair, and if we live for happiness these realities will cause bitterness and resentment due to our sense of entitlement that isn't being fulfilled. But when we focus on being content, we can find true satisfaction in who Christ is, and who we are to Him.

Let us learn to be content, and when we learn to be content, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. We will be free from a dependence to satisfy a fleeting emotion, and able to pursue a life that is really worth living. A content life can endure hardship, because Christ is with you, teaching and molding you through the difficulty. A content life can really enjoy blessings, because it will not create a need for more, but will be fully enjoyed in the moment. A content life is free to fully know Christ and be known by Christ. That is the life that He intended for us to live, content in whatever circumstances we are, because we can do all things through Christ.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!