"Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy." - Proverbs 14:10 (NIV)
Contentment does not come from feeling bitter about what we don't have; it comes from finding joy in what we do have!
Discovering the Secret of Contentment
Trust is the key to contentment. We must realise that God is always in control and that He is good. If this were not true, He could never give His children the promise of Romans 8:28.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
He is absolutely faithful to provide all we need to fulfill His will, which is exactly what we would desire if we knew all the facts.
- Bill Thrasher, Believing God for His Best
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Philippians was the first book I studied as a small group leader at York (
Incidentally, York CU is studying Ecclesiastes in small groups this term, my last term in York.
"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?" - Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 (NIV)
"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him." - Ecclesiastes 3:12-14 (NIV)
"Then I realised that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." - Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 (NIV)
I was just listening to Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (from Monty Python's Life of Brian) on my iPod.
For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow
Forget about your sin
Give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow
By its own worldly logic (which I wouldn't recommend), we should always look on the bright side of life - because death's the final word (or so it seems).
But death is not the final word.
"But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." - Romans 8:10-11 (NIV)
"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." - 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 (NIV)
"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NIV)
And the good news is that our sin is both forgiven and forgotten. Not forgiven and forgotten because it doesn't matter, but because it has been fully dealt with in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Not forgiven and forgotten by us, but by the One who has the power and authority to do so - God!
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." - Isaiah 43:25 (NIV)
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write in on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." - Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIV)
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." - Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
How much more, then, should we always look on the bright side of (eternal) life!
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."" - Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)
Links: On Contentment (13 Dec 09), Knowing Jesus, Knowing God (20 Sep 10)
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