5 May 2020
If you google, “staying positive in all circumstances”, you’ll get plenty of hits. There’s been much written from wise leaders and authors about not letting circumstances define us. Even my parents taught me to stay positive despite what life throws at me. The reality is though, that despite all this advice and knowledge about overcoming our circumstances, it’s just really challenging to actually do.
As this COVID-19 crisis rattles on across the globe, we can certainly say that many of our circumstances are not ideal. Restricted travel, no school, sickness and death are not circumstances we would have chosen for ourselves and our world. Personally, I find myself feeling that I can be content once things are different, once the virus is gone, once my kids have more space to play, and when they can finally travel to meet their grandparents. Are there things you find yourself wishing were different? That school was back in session? That your job was more secure? That your current affliction, physical or emotional, was taken away from you?
To be clear, wishing for things to be different is not wrong, and mourning loss and hardship is a natural part of God’s design. But there’s an unhealthy version of this, and I think God has been opening my eyes to my sinful frustration over my current situation, my discontentment. It’s certainly an issue I’ve always had, but I think the virus has brought it to the surface.
Let’s start with what christian contentment is NOT. Contentment is not blind optimism, ignoring your problems, or simply being cheerful and happy all the time. Rather, christian contentment is the inward frame of mind and spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition” — even the miserable ones. It’s standing on the rock of God’s power and goodness so as not to be swayed to and fro by the waves and winds of life.
If you took your contentment “temperature” right now, what would you find? Would you find a heart that is thrown into anxiety by the ups and downs of life’s circumstances? Or would you find a heart that so trusts in God and His sovereign plan, that you are able to take whatever He sends you — even affliction — with delight? If we are honest, many of us would end up somewhere in between.
This question isn’t of little consequence. Author Thomas Watson calls contentment, “A remedy against all our trouble, an alleviation to all our burdens, and the cure to every worry.” What else is more needed in such a time as this! So the question I’ve been asking myself is, how then do I grow in this area?
I want to mention briefly two answers scripture gives:
1. A Deeper Knowledge God’s Wisdom and Love.
We see God’s wisdom clearly in Daniel 2 – “Blessed be the name of God from age to age, for wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” We see God’s Love for us in Psalm 34:10 – “Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” What can we say then? We can say that all that God brings to us is 1) in his control, 2) well planned out, and 3) good for us.
Author Thomas Watson once said, “If the thing we desire is (ultimately) good for us – we shall have it, by God’s grace. If it is not – then the not having is good for us.” I think the opposite is true as well, that if we desire that something painful or frustrating be removed from our lives, and it’s not — then we know it’s God’s plan, so we can be content. If it it removed — then we can be content in that too.
So then, Christian contentment flows from the knowledge that every single situation you’re in of every single minute, hour, day, and year has been crafted by the perfectly wise God who works all things for good.
2. More Regular Prayer for Christ’s Strength.
This is what Paul is says in Phil 4, “for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I 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. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
What’s the secret Pauls learns — Christ gives us His own strength. We cannot bear life’s joys and sorrows on our own. Through repentance and faith, Christ gives us his very life, so that we are able to bear all we experience. What great news! Pray to Jesus and ask him for strength daily, and He will certainly give it to you.
Friends, I pray that, whatever circumstances you find yourself in at this very moment, that you can know with certainty that your loving Father has ordained it, and that it’s for good. I pray also that Christ’s strength would be our strength, for only through Him can we truly rest secure.
**If you’re interested in reading more about growth in contentment, I’d highly recommend The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, by Puritan author Jeremiah Burroughs. It’s a sobering and convicting read, but incredibly helpful in sharpening submission and delight in our good God.
Miles Bennett
