Rhythm of Life

Contentment is a tough concept for most of us to grasp.  It almost feels like we’re anti-ambition when we admit to being content.  The Stoic philosophers of Biblical times taught that it was possible to reach a place where nothing fazes us…no hardship, no joy, no pain, no pleasure…just “contentment.”  The Bible never blesses our disconnecting from the world around us.  It is not God’s desire for us to live in a nebulous, plastic-coated reality that has no substance within.  Contentment means that our strength is not located in anything around us but the Lord’s constant Presence.  It doesn’t mean hardship won’t beset us, that pain won’t visit, or that pleasures won’t come.  It simply means, at the end of the day, that Jesus is all we need.  We can have that and still want to excel in what we do for our job or career. We can have that and still enjoy the blessings of a loving family.  The strength that Paul boasted in was not that he had learned the secret of numbing himself to life.  Many try to do that today with substance abuse.  The strength that Paul boasted in was in knowing the Lord Jesus Christ had enough riches to meet his needs, enough grace to forgive his sins, and enough joy to surpass the most joyful of experiences.  In other words, Paul learned that Jesus was all he needed.

And Jesus was enough.