Freedom in Contentment

Freedom in Contentment

Most of us want to be content. But what I find is that, instead of truly being content, most of us find ourselves trying to convince others that we are content. And that very attempt to convince others spoils our contentment.

What if God truly wanted you to be content with your life... EVEN IF it wasn’t the life you’ve always dreamed about? I’m talking, that “dead end” job that you know supplies. The daily grind that seems to have no breakthrough in sight. The child you raised up differently that is going down the wrong path. The lower reputation you have that you desire to be greater. The addiction you struggle to overcome that keeps winning the battle. Or maybe it’s something un-mentioned above. If we were to think about our own lives hard enough we could probably think of something we are not content with.

Let me ask you, are you happy with that discontentment? If you think about it, does it make you happy? When we focus so hard on our discontentments it overrides any possibilities of ever being content.

Allow me to give an example. We live in a world where it’s totally normal for everyone to live an entirely other life through the lens of social media. We each have a website page completely about us and the life we desire others to see us as. No one posts images of the miserable parts of life. It’s always the vacation, the big opportunity, the perfect date. The highlights. If we were to stop and think... truly think about our motive of the post, if we could be honest, it’s probably so that others can see our lives through the eyes that we want them to. We post our lives to be content, in hopes that others accept the reputation we attempt to plant in their minds. But moments after the post one of the hardest moments in life attack’s, that we would never desire to be exposed.

This is an issue. Are we really content if we are constantly attempting to be content? Maybe you’ve been praying for the breakthrough, the big reveal, the great opportunity. And it just doesn’t seem around the corner. You feel stuck where you are at. Is being discontent in life helping you be content? It sounds stupid but think about it. Maybe God desires for you to simply give your all with a grateful heart in the moments and gaps that you despise. When Jesus died He wasn’t discontent. I know He was in anguish and He prayed that if it were The Fathers will to take it away than for Him to do it, but He was content with the call. Did He want to do it? I think His fleshly body did not, no. But did He know it was for the Common Good? Absolutely. It was where He was placed. He wanted it gone. He wanted a different way but it was simply where He was placed. If Jesus would have never embraced His current placement to the cross He would have never enhanced His people to contentment. Think about it, before the cross there was a law to keep, rules, regulations. Constant instruction to make sure your reputation was received well. Certain washings. Certain sacrifices. God’s love was the same but He needed to provide a way for His people to understand freedom they didn’t deserve. To live life to the fullest in the midst of the mundane.

So let me ask you. What’s your cross today? Christ had a cross. He wore on His very being the sin of the world. But was Jesus content? Yup. Did He wish for different? Sure. But if He would have gone into the crucifixion half heartedly I don’t think He would have followed through. Our commitment to follow through in those less desirable areas equals resurrection. Now do I mean a breakthrough in that area? It could. But I more-so mean for you. For your heart. For your soul. Contentment. The ultimate breakthrough.

Maybe your cross is that job that is hard to return to. Or not having people think of you the way you wish they would view you. Whatever your cross is here’s what I believe Jesus wants us to do with it. Follow through. Don’t run. Can we look for a better career? Sure! Can we do our best to live out the healthy life we desire others to see us have? Absolutely! But do we allow those goals to become such an idol that it’s all we care about? Nope. Because then contentment is swallowed up by it. But, if we continue to pursue our goal and at the same time live our best life in the moments we’ve been given THEN we will discover contentment during the crucifix.

I get it. Easier said than done. I know.

And maybe your nails are currently in deep and you’re hanging by them. It’s hard to breath and the weight is overbearing. But know, Jesus has all the power and authority to call down trillions of angels to destroy everyone who had put Him there and remove Him from the cross. But did He do that? Did He run? Did He escape? Nope. Did He believe He was misplaced because of His cross? Nope. He knew His placement.

Now here’s the wild thing. We tend to escape our cross. Maybe we quit the job after job hopping to and from because we can’t be content. Maybe we move to different areas we feel like we will find what we want. Maybe we jump from relationship to relationship because we can’t make it through a hard spell with him or her. Maybe we get way too offended by that positive criticism that’s made to build us up and we isolate ourselves from growth by shutting it out. Whatever it is, we escape our cross. The issue with that is it can lead to more crosses. The difference? Jesus has one cross.

Embrace your cross and do it with joy. Because being discontent and wishing you were some place different will do nothing AT ALL for the situation. The same result in your life will happen regardless of how negative you are. So why not embrace the now with everything like Jesus did? When we pick up our cross and follow Christ’s attitude, our lives will produce resurrection. You will begin to hum happy tunes on Monday’s at the job you wish you didn’t have to carry. You will find more confidence in studying harder for the courses you hate. You will laugh off the person who cut you off on the highway. You will find more enthusiasm in waking up every morning so you can get at it. You will find yourself excited to fall asleep because you know tomorrow is ahead. Be content with where you are. Is it where you want to be? Well, even presidents wish they could live a normal life after their term. I say that to help you realize that it is a regular struggle with probably everyone. And being a Christian doesn’t exclude us from disappointments in life. Perfection will never be attained here on earth. But our surrender to Jesus brings contentment.

You are not alone. Christ bore His cross even though it hurt. When you lean on the Perfect One who knows what it feels like to be in your shoes, you will find resurrection.