More
Everyone has everything they could possibly need to be fulfilled and content. We do not need anything else to close the deal for us. “We are blessed beyond understanding.” That phrase has been thrown at us so many times that we have become callused to it entirely. We realize that we are blessed but yet we still jockey and battle for more.
The Apostle Paul understood how to truly be content no matter the circumstances, feelings, emotions, whatever it may be. As a matter of fact, he was in prison when he wrote these words to the people of Philippi:
Philippians 4:11-12
11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
The fact is if I cannot be content with this moment in time during my life then I will never ever be satisfied. When I was fifteen years old, I wanted so badly for my sixteenth birthday to hurry up and come around because then I would be able to get my ‘real’ driver’s license. That day came and it’s been over three years since that dream has come to pass. In my own mind, I had arrived. I had reached my destination. I was ‘content.’ Looking back now, that was just another day in my epic journey to understand more fully the greatness of my Father.
Another episode in Paul’s life is documented in Acts 16:34 when he and Silas are again in jail.
34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God-he and his whole family.
Was Abraham content when he carried Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him? I believe he was because he knew God was going to somehow be satisfied through his obedience. Was Elijah content when the 450 prophets of Baal were dancing around their alter calling out and begging their god to send fire down from heaven to consume their offering? I believe he was fully confident that his God would show up because he had seen Him do it all before. Was Jesus content knowing His purpose was to die for the sins of all mankind as a ransom? I believe He was because He put more faith in His Father than he put in himself and His meaningful insignificance gave us a dim reflection of His Father’s awesomeness.
The problem with our theology of "more" is that it always leaves us wanting.