Everybody That Is Something Wants To Be Something Else

Actors start a band. Athletes release an album. Singers try to act. Ever notice no matter how good somebody is at something they always try to get into something else. Radio guys want to be on TV. TV guys start a radio program. Speakers try to write. Writers want to speak. Directors want to act. Actors want to direct. Why can’t we be satisfied with where we are at?

One of the most difficult things for people is to find contentment. Don’t think that contentment only comes is completion. One can achieve everything they want to achieve and it won't be enough. The more you get the more you want. Many find that even when they are able to go further than they ever dreamed, it is still not enough. They are not satisfied, so they go in search of something else. But contentment is not found in consuming.

Paul give us the secret to finding satisfaction in Philippians 4:11-13:

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Contentment isn't in having enough. It isn't in depriving yourself. It comes from knowing that in whatever you find yourself, God will take care of you! I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Over the years I have seen this verse misapplied by many as a positive thinking mantra. I can have, achieve, get whatever I want because of Christ. But that attitude misses the entire point. Paul says it doesn't matter what you have or don't have. It is not that you feel successful or are a total failure. It is an understanding that what I have in Christ is more valuable than any earthly achievement. Contentment means that what goes on here is only as important it relates to eternity.

If we keep running after the things of this world we will never find true contentment. They will always be out of reach. They will never satisfy. The only true meaning come in trusting in God and knowing that he makes things matter.

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