So far we’ve discovered contentment doesn’t come naturally, but is something that is learned. We have to work at it. We’ve also thought about the relationship between discontentment and pride. Whenever there is discontentment, there is an underlying belief that my station in life should be different than what God has ordained for me. In other words, “I know better than God.” Today, we’ll look at a passage of Scripture that pushes this thought a bit farther.
“…those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Ps. 34:10).
Read that verse again and think about the contentment/discontentment relationship. Discontentment, by definition, declares some “good thing” is lacking. Do you see how that grates against the promise of this verse?
Thomas Watson says it superbly, “If the thing we desire is good for us, we shall have it. If it is not good then not having it is good for us.”
Our discontentment may be driven by numerous “good things” we think are missing. But in God’s providential ordering of your life, he may have deemed NOT having those things as good. Pride would say, “God is wrong to withhold those from me.” Humility says, “I may not understand it, but I’ll trust God and submit to it.”
So now, the conversation shifts to an issue of trust. Can I trust the good things I have are truly good for me? Equally, can I trust not having some things are also good for me? This is the foundation of contentment.
