Week 67: Contentment - Live on almost Nothing or with Everything

“…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…” (Saint Paul, Philippians 4:11-13NLT)

More, More, More

How much we enjoy what we have is more important than how much we have. We can have dozen of car or few houses, for example, but in the end we simply cannot enjoy all of it. In today’s materialistic society, life is full of people who have more than enough, more than they know what to do with it but sad to say, they cannot be content. “More, more, more” is the language spoken by those who have a discontented heart.

Little Bit More

Most people think that having more or plenty will make us content – they are deceived. The truth is; a taste of having plenty makes us want a little more than what we’ve got. We brought all kinds of modern appliances, always updating with the latest electronic gadgets, collect expensive furniture, keep as many trendy clothes as possible etc. But still we’re not content.  Even if we have ‘everything’, ‘full stomach’ or ‘in plenty’; the desire to always want a little-bit-more will quench our thirst for something we don’t have. When we look at what we want and then compare it with what we have, we will be utterly dissatisfied.

Frederick Koenig observed it well when he writes,

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

Contentment, what does it mean?

Contentment means suppressing the desire for more and more. It means recognizing that we are merely God’s stewards of our possessions and appreciating God’s Providences in our life. Readers, to be content doesn’t mean we shall not wanting or desire anything at ALL – that’s a false teaching! It doesn’t mean that we must give everything away to the poor and become poor ourselves. It doesn’t mean we must feel guilty for being blessed as Malaysian citizen. [Come to think about it, I’m really blessed for being a Malaysian] It doesn’t mean we care nothing about our finances. It doesn’t mean… oh you get what I mean right: Contentment means enjoying what we have to the fullest, recognizing what we already have, and appreciate what we do have. A contented heart spoke the language of “God is enough”.

“The secret of contentment”, writes Lin Yutang, “is knowing how to enjoy what you have and to be able to lose all desire for thing beyond you reach.”

‘Be content with whatever I have’

 Now, let’s look at the Scripture above. Paul was in the Roman’s prison cell when he wrote the Letter of Philippians. It amazes me that the apostle Paul could be content while chained in a prison cell for years. I imagine that he lived in that filth, dark and alone inside that iron bars. It amazes me even more when I studied the Epistles that Paul also was content in times of plenty when he stayed with rich folks such as Philemon and Lydia. Thus, he was able to write ‘I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.’

Learned How to Be Content

"contentment' by Henriette

Paul says that he had “learned” this. It doesn’t come naturally for him. For everything that he went through throughout his life – he learned how to be content. Albert Barnes from my E-Sword software noted that, “A contented mind is an invaluable blessing, and is one of the fruits of religion in the soul. It arises from the belief that God is right in all his ways… one of the secrets of happiness is to have a mind satisfied with all the allotments of Providence.”

Here is a short prayer that might be helpful for us to be content in our life;

“O Lord, Give me mind that always contented with my present condition,
for I believe in the goodness of Your Providence. Amen.”

The Heart that Loves the Little Things

I came across this wonderful short yet meaningful quotation in Roy B. Zuck’s The Speaker’s Quote Book that I want to share with you. As I ended this article, may you’ll be encourage to start living your life contented with what you have;

The heart that loves the little things

Is full of deep content;

The life that serves in little things

Is often nobly spent

So do not be despising

The day of little things,

For bees, as well as angels,

Can boast a pair of wings

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP. God is Enough.