How can weĀ learnĀ contentment?Ā
(J.R. Miller, “The Hidden Life” 1895)Ā Ā LISTEN to audio!Ā Ā Download audio
(You will find it helpful toĀ listen to the audio above, as you read theĀ text below.)
Ā
“I haveĀ learned to be contentĀ in whatever circumstances I am.” Philippians 4:11
How can weĀ learnĀ contentment?Ā
One step toward contentment, isĀ patient submission to unavoidable ills and hardships. No earthly lot is perfect. No mortal ever yet in this world, has found a set of circumstances without some drawback. There are . . .
Ā Ā trialsĀ which we cannot change into blessings,
Ā Ā burdensĀ which we cannot lay down,
Ā Ā crossesĀ which we must continue to carry,
Ā Ā thornsĀ in the flesh which must remain with their rankling pain.
When we have such trials, why should we not sweetly accept them as part ofĀ God’s best wayĀ with us?Ā
DiscontentĀ never made . . .
Ā a rough path smoother,
Ā a heavy burden lighter,
Ā a bitter cup less bitter,
Ā a dark way brighter,
Ā a sore sorrow less sore.Ā
It only makes matters worse!Ā
One who accepts with patience, that which he cannot change–has learned one secret of victorious living.
Another part of the lesson, is that we can learn toĀ moderate our desires. “Having food and clothing,” says Paul again, “let us be content with these.” Very much of our discontent arises from envy of those who seem to be more favored than ourselves. Many people lose most of the comfort out of their own lot–in coveting the finer, more luxurious things which some neighbor has. Yet if they knew the whole story of the life they envy for its greater prosperity, they probably would not exchange for it their own lowlier life with its more humble circumstances. Or if they could make the exchange, it is not likely they would find half so much real happiness in the other position, as they would have enjoyed in their own.Ā
Contentment does not dwell so often inĀ palaces–as in the homes of theĀ humble. TheĀ tall peaksĀ rise higher and are more conspicuous–but the winds smite them more fiercely than they do theĀ quiet valleys. And surely, the lot in life which God makes for us, is always theĀ bestĀ which could be made for us for the time. He knows better than we do, what our true needs are.Ā
The realĀ causeĀ of ourĀ discontentĀ is not in ourĀ circumstances; if it were, a change of circumstances might cure it. It is inĀ ourselves, and wherever we go–we shall carry ourĀ discontent heartĀ with us. The onlyĀ cureĀ which will affect anything, must be the curing of theĀ fever of discontentĀ in us.
A fine secret of contentment, lies inĀ finding and extracting all the pleasure we can get from the things we have–the common, everyday things; while we enter upon no mad, vain chase afterĀ impossible dreams. In whatever state we are in, we may find therein enough for our needs.
No earthly misfortune can touch the wealth which a Christian holds in the divine promises and hopes. Just in the measure, therefore, in which weĀ learn to live for spiritual and unseen eternal realities–do we find contentment amid earth’s trials and losses. If we would live to please God, to build up Christlike character in ourselves, and to lay up treasure in Heaven–we shall not depend for happiness, on the way things go with us here on earth, nor on the measure of temporal goods we have. The earthly desires are crowded out by the higher and spiritual desires. We can do withoutĀ childhood’s toys–when we haveĀ manhood’sĀ better possessions. We desire theĀ toys of this worldĀ less, as we get more of God and Heaven into our hearts.
Paul knew this secret. He cheerfully gave up all that this world had for him. Money had no power over him. He knew how to live inĀ plenty; but he did not fret whenĀ povertyĀ came instead. He was content in any trial, because earth meant so little–and Christ meant so much to him. He did notĀ needĀ the things he did not have. He was not made poor by the things he lost. He was not vexed by the sufferings he had to endure–because the sources of his life were in Heaven and could not be touched by earthly experiences of pain or loss.
These are hints of the way we may learn to be content in whatever circumstances. Surely the lesson is worth learning! One year of sweet contentment, amid earth’s troublous scenes–is better than a whole lifetime of vexed, restless discontent! The lessonĀ canĀ be learned, too, by anyone who is truly Christ’s disciple; for did not the Master say, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you.”
The artist paintedĀ lifeĀ as a dark, storm-swept sea, covered with wrecks. Then out of the midst of the wild waves, he made to rise a great rock, in a cleft of which, high up, amid herbage and flowers–he painted a dove sitting quietly on her nest. It is a picture of Christian peace in the midst of this world’s strifes and storms. In the cleft of the Rock, is the home of contentment.
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November 21, 2022 
iChristian 
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