Contentment

What is it to be contented? When we are contented we are not wishing for something we do not have. To be contented with what you have is not to be wishing for something you do not have. Paul said, “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”* (Philippians 4:11) If Paul could learn that lesson, we can learn it. A brother was asked what kind of weather he thought it would be for the next few days. He answered, “Just the sort of weather that suits me.” The inquirer was eager to know what sort of weather suited him. He replied, “Just what ever kind suits the Lord.”

There may be some who do not know the true meaning of these words. They do not mean that if you have godliness and also have contentment you have great gain. They mean that if you have godliness and the contentment that always attends it you have great gain. You cannot separate godliness and contentment. If you have godliness you have contentment, and you cannot have contentment without godliness. We come just as far short of true godliness as we come short of contentment. If you do not have perfect contentment, you do not possess God in the fullness. The fullness of God in the soul satisfies the soul. It leaves no void. Such a soul has perfect peace, fullness of joy, rivers of pleasures, and is happy in its lot.

To be contented you must come to know, and know it well, that nothing can happen to you which is not in harmony with the will of God. Without a thorough knowledge of this there will be discontentment. Nothing can disturb the peace of those who know in their heart that God’s will is in everything that comes to them in life. Instead of striving to be rich, strive to be contented with what you have. A contented life is yours, if you will have it. It is a grand way to live.

“Then, whatsoever wind doth blow,
My heart is glad to have it so;
And, blow it east or blow it west,
The wind that blows, that wind is best.”*