Mission Impossible

Contentment. Who doesn’t want it? But some days, it just feels like finding it is mission impossible!

Yet, my friend, contentment is not impossible to find. We just need someone to show us the way. So today we’re heading off on a journey with the Apostle Paul. 

You see, Paul persecuted Christians until a meeting with Jesus totally changed his life, and he started sharing the Good News—a complete turnaround.

But that didn’t mean his life was suddenly a bed of roses. No, far from it! He writes:

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying the death of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies."

“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory...” (2 Corinthians 4:8–10, 17)

Paul’s doing all the right things—living for God and for others—yet he’s facing such a barrage of persecution that he’s in fear for his life.

But look closely at his response. Is he trying to wish it away or avoid it? Is he dreaming of a better, easier life? No. Instead, he downplays it all, calling it a momentary affliction. 

You see, discontentment comes when we want our circumstances to change. We wish things were better for us so we can be content. But Paul is completely content even in the hard times of life. Completely! How?

He’s out there, going about God’s business, completely focused on Jesus and what He has called him to do. Completely! 

And that’s the secret. Jesus is his contentment. 

He’s being tried and tested on the outside, but on the inside, he’s growing richer, more powerful in his faith, more content with what God’s called him to do.

My friend, that’s the answer for you and me, too. That’s where we find contentment. At Jesus’s feet.

When we give ourselves over to Him, we stop wishing we could change this or change that, because those things cease to be important. 

When we spend time with Jesus and get back to who He is, what He’s done and what He’s calling us to do, the things you and I have to tolerate and sometimes suffer . . . they’re put into the proper perspective. 

Contentment returns.

Life Application Questions:  

• Pause for a moment and take stock of your situation in life today. Would you say you’re generally a contented person? 
• Are there outside pressures or disappointments in your life that you wish would change? Write them down as a way to explore what’s at the heart of any discontentment you may be feeling.
• Read 2 Corinthians 4 in full. Highlight all the verses that speak to you about how to look through your circumstances and focus on God’s will and His ever-present goodness.
• Bring your circumstances and discontentment before the Lord today and, as you do, ask God to reveal a new perspective to you.