Confused By Contentment

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

The Lord has granted a house to live in, and in looking about you see that it is assembled with a particular size, say 13mm, bolt and nut fastener combination. You do not own a single bolt turner (wrench), squeezer (pliers), or cruncher (bigger pliers), to tighten up the bolts while holding the nuts that hold the house together, and the entire house is getting a little loose due to the expansive soils of the area in which you reside. [Note to the reader: what they call expansive soils seem to become contractive soils when a drought condition comes, and thus things loosen that were once tightened.]

The pastor chooses that week to thunder down from the pulpit that you are to be content with what you have, using our verse for today, and to be like Paul who had learned to be content in whatever circumstance he found himself. On the one hand, you have a great need for some tools, and on the other you have a need to be content with what you have. So, is it to be bloody fingers all around as you try to tighten those fasteners with what you have? Some Christians might think so as they place their bloodied fingers gently together to pray to God about how content they are in their current circumstance. That just sounds so painful; does the Lord want us to be that way?

Today, I do not have a list of contentment rules for you to follow. Nope, sorry. In the same circumstance, one of the beloved might open her door, carefully since all the bolts are loose, to find a gift of a socket set and a package of combination wrenches. Another of the beloved may look out to see a handyman coming up the walk because the man noticed a need for his services as he drove by one day. You may have money in hand to go get a set of tools. I may have a friend who loves to tighten fasteners. Others may have other methods provided by the Lord. One of the beloved in Christ may even be driven to invent a tool no one had thought of until that moment the Lord provided him or her an idea. 

Christians all over the world are confused by contentment as we look at our needs and wants. Not every want is a temptation and not every unfilled need is a test of endurance. Go to the Lord in prayer and be content with His answer that is specifically tailored to bring you closer to Him. 

We can all be content in Christ the Lord!

Bucky