Been There. Done That. Now What?


03/05/2006 - Sidebar: Contentment



Imagine waking up tomorrow morning completely content ...

Content with your bedroom ... your house ... your apartment ... your neighborhood ... your school district ... your family ... your wife ... your husband ... your kids ... your parents ... your friends ... your car ... your health ... your clothes ... your job ... your income ...

Imagine how different your life would be if you woke up tomorrow morning completely content ...

I'm sure some of you are thinking your life would be different because you'd have a bigger house or a more understanding spouse ... maybe you're picturing a newer model car that doesn't need to go to the shop so often ... or nicer neighbors or a job promotion ... after all, those are required for contentment ...

But what if none of those things had anything to do with your contentment ... what if nothing in your life changed ... you just woke up tomorrow morning completely content with your life just the way it is ...

Imagine what it would be like to live an entire day completely content ... or a whole week or a month or a year ... completely content ... happy ... satisfied ... no striving ... no clamoring ... no frustration ... no feeling like a failure ... just cruising along through life with your soul completely at rest ...

Think of this morning's teaching is a sidebar teaching within the Ecclesiastes series ...

Like a sidebar article in a magazine ... a short news story presenting sidelights on a major story ...

Last week in Bruce's teaching from Ecclesiastes, chapter 4, he read to us this verse (verse 6) ...

Better one handful with tranquility (another beautiful word for contentment) than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Then he repeated this quote ...

“Little is always more where there is contentment”

This morning we want to zero in on this idea of contentment ... five weeks into our walk through Ecclesiastes we want to pause to think together what contentment looks like ... how do we find it ... in what ways would contentment change our lives ... our worlds ...

The Major Obstacle to Contentment

Solomon only uses the word content once in Ecclesiastes but he has a lot to say about the idea of contentment in the rest of his journal ... Bruce read us the verse I am referring to in last week's teaching as well ...

Ecclesiastes 4:8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.

The major obstacle to contentment is found in this little phrase ... his eyes were not content with his wealth ... the major obstacle to contentment is our eyes ... not necessarily our physical eyes but rather our perception of life ...

The problem with this man is not the volume or quality of his stuff ... he had plenty ... the problem was with his eyes ... his perception ... his eyes were not content ... he could not see that he had enough ...

The Difficulty of Finding Contentment in America

Contentment is all about seeing our possessions as enough ... not to acquire more things ... rather it is to see the things that we have as enough ... that's not easy to do when you live in the richest and yet most chronically discontented nation in the entire world ...

A couple of weeks ago we were traveling home from a little get-a-way in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when we passed a brand new housing development ... what's the big deal, right? ... new housing developments are as common as potholes in March ... but this one was unlike any housing development I had seen in a long, long time ... I slowed down the van and rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing properly ...

This housing development was a sprawling grid of modest sized homes ... I'm talking three-bedroom, one and a half bath ranchers! ... it was like passing a Volkswagen dealership with a lot full of brand new Volkswagen Bugs (of the Herbie the Lovebug variety) ... “I didn't think they made them anymore!”

Back in 1989 we lived in a rented home in Levittown, PA ... If you know anything about Levittown, PA, you know that after the end of World War II builders like Levitt and Sons built entire towns of modest sized homes in an attempt to make the American dream affordable to millions of Americans ...

We lived in a house called the Jubilee model ... The Jubilee debuted in 1954 to mark Levitt and Sons 25th anniversary and proved an instant hit with consumers. The anniversary model included an enclosed garage and an expandable second floor. In 1956, a brand new Levittown Jubilee model home cost $11,600 which would be comparable to a new home costing a little over $87,000 today ...

You just don't see many new houses of that size and price being built today ... That's why we were so shocked to see that housing development on our way home from Delaware ... it was reminiscent of Levittown in the 1950's ...

Today the houses in most housing developments look more like this ... and if you pay close attention to the advertisements for today's new housing developments, you will notice that they almost always include the word “luxury” ... the new homes of the 1950's were touted as “functional” ... fifty years later today's market is not content with “functional” ... it demands “luxury” ...

Consider these statistics from an article in Mother Jones Magazine called “This New House” which starts off by saying “The American Dream just keeps growing.” ...

  • Since 1970 the size of the average new home has ballooned by 50%
  • Since 1950, the average new house has increased by 1,247 sq. ft. ... this room is 39 feet wide ... 39 feet extended back 32 feet would reach back just beyond those double doors ... about 110 chairs are set up in this front section ... that is the equivalent of the increase of the average new house since 1950 ...
  • Meanwhile, in the same amount of time, the average household has shrunk by 1 person.
  • In 1950, 1 in 100 homes had 2.5 baths or more. Today, 1 in 2 do.
  • 1 in 5 new homes is larger than 3,000 sq. ft.—the size at which it becomes unmanageable to clean without hired help.
  • The average cost of a luxury kitchen remodel is $57,000. That's $10,000 more than it costs to build a typical Habitat for Humanity home.

It is not easy to be content in America today ... contentment is not driving Madison Avenue ... but does that mean contentment is not possible?

Contentment with our “Lot in Life”

We have already learned from Ecclesiastes that Solomon had everything and yet was not content ... it seems, however, that he recognized contentment in others and he longed for it ... he seemed at times jealous of the simple laborers in his kingdom who enjoyed the contentment that he found so illusive ... the theme of contentment, rest, satisfaction, happiness, enjoyment, tranquility, is repeated over and over throughout Solomon's journal ...

One way that Solomon describes contentment is the acceptance of one's lot

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for people to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives people wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.

Our lot in life is a phrase that refers to the ancient practice of casting lots which we might better understand as drawing straws or rolling dice ... common people, civil leaders, even priests in ancient times would cast lots to make decisions ... a strange and as risky at that might sound, God's people cast lots frequently for all kinds of decisions, even major ones ... they believed that God spoke to them by the way the lot fell ...

Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

Whatever the outcome of the lot, they accepted it ... they didn't try to push God by asking for the best 2 out of 3 ... they simply accepted the outcome of the lot as a decision from God ...

So Solomon uses the phrase lot in life to describe the unique life circumstances that fall to individuals ... today we might describe our life in terms of the cards that we've been dealt ... Solomon is saying you are blessed by God if you are happy with the cards you've been dealt ...

The Secret of Contentment

So if contentment has something to do with coming to terms with our unique life circumstances and being happy with them and if everything around us in our culture is pushing us to be discontent, how can we find true contentment?

Let's move outside of Solomon's journal for a couple of minutes and see if other voices can help us find the secret of contentment ... Solomon's father, King David, wrote in Psalm 131:2 ...

Psalm 131:2 ... I have calmed myself and quieted my ambitions. I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

Here is the graphic image of a nursing infant who cannot be near his mother without clamoring to nurse ... but a child who has been weaned can rest in the arms of her mother ... David said he has calmed himself ... he has quieted his ambitions ...

The next time you find contentment so illusive, think of yourself as a nursing child clamoring for his mother's milk ... what would it take to be weaned from the needs that make us so unhappy ... what would it take to quiet our ambitions ...

The life of the Apostle Paul is a wonderful example of contentment ... in 1 Timothy he talks about the minimum that we need to be content ...

1 Timothy 6:6-8  ... godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Being happy with the minimums ... camping is a great way to learn to appreciate the minimums ... our family loves to camp ... there is something about camping that helps you revisit and appreciate life's most basic necessities ... food always tastes better camping ... hot coffee in the morning is like gold when you are camping ... dry fire wood becomes a precious commodity ...

A couple of years ago we decided to buy a serious camping tent ... a Kelty Mantra 7 that looks like an igloo when it's set up but, like no other tent we've ever owned, the Kelty Mantra 7 is seriously waterproof ... oh, the luxury of waterproof shelter ... camping helps us find happiness in the minimums  ...

But Paul doesn't limit the possibility of contentment to the minimums ... in

Philippians 4:11-12 ... 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.

Contentment is possible in every situation ... in plenty or in need ...

But perhaps the secret of contentment is best described by the writer to the Hebrews in ...

Hebrews 13:5 ... Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." [Deuteronomy 31:6]

We reason we can be content is that we have a loving Father who has promise to never leave us; never forsake us ...

The secret of contentment is trust

What would have to change in me in order for me to be able to wake up tomorrow morning completely content? I would have to trust God that what I have is all I need ... this is my lot in life ...

The result of contentment is rest

Psalm 116:7 Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.

I believe that this is what we desire more than anything else in life ...

soul rest ... take a moment right now to look deeply into your soul ... is it at rest? ... do you wish it was at rest? ...

Imagine how different your life would be if your soul was settled ... how much more would people enjoy being around us ... how much more generous would we be ... how much more spontaneous ... how much more grateful ... how much more gentle ... how different the environment of our homes ... how different our marriages ... our families ... our friendships ... how different our impact on the world around us ...

And what if the church ... the body of Christ ... collectively became content ... hilariously happy with what we have ... instead of always clamoring for more we could see our abundance and be anxious to share it with others ... how would that change the world?

I don't think we will ever be able to make a difference in this world for Christ until we find contentment ... until we find rest for our souls ... My prayer is that somehow no matter how elusive contentment has been to you ... to me ... that we will begin to strive for it passionately ... that we will discover that it is attainable ...

So our souls can return to the rest that God has intended for them ... for the Lord has been good to us ...

For Additional Consideration ...

Ecclesiastes 2:23-25
All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. People can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:22
So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

Proverbs 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

Ecclesiastes 4:6
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:8
There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless— a miserable business!

Ecclesiastes 5:12
The sleep of laborers is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits them no sleep.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19
This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for people to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives people wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 6:2-3
God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

Ecclesiastes 6:6
even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

Ecclesiastes 8:15
So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 11:8
However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.

Psalm 131:2
But I have calmed myself and quieted my ambitions. I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

Philippians 4:11-12
I am not saying this because I am in need, 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.

1 Timothy 6:6-8
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." [ Deut. 31:6]

2 Corinthians 10:12
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Psalm 62:1
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David. [62:1-12 is numbered 62:2-13 in Hebrew texts.] Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.

Psalm 62:5
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

Psalm 116:7
Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.

Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.