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!