Does God Want You to Be Content? // The Road to Contentment, Part 1

<p>So let me ask you – are you content with your life? As you survey the landscape of your life – the hills, the valleys … the roads yet untraveled – is that something that you do with a quiet contentment in your heart …. or not?</p> <h4> </h4> <h4><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>IS CONTENTMENT REALLY FOR YOU?</strong></span></h4> <p>So come on: On a scale of zero to ten, how content are you with your life? I have a strong suspicion that whilst there are a few outliers out there (a few people who are giving themselves a one or a two because they’re not content at all, and a few who are giving themselves a nine or ten), the vast majority are somewhere in the middle of that bell curve – somewhere between say a four and a seven I’m guessing.</p> <p>Are you content with who you are, where you live, what you have, your job, your family, your future as you see it at the moment? Are you content or not? It’s worth pondering.</p> <p>So, what is contentment? Is it a state of happiness or jubilation? I don’t think so. I trawled a bunch of dictionaries, but I failed to come up with a satisfactory definition. A state of happiness and satisfaction was the most common definition, with examples like: He found contentment in living a simple life in the country, or: The contentment of a comfortable retirement.</p> <p>Of course, it’d be great if we were all able to live a simple life in the country and have a comfortable retirement, but that’s not a reality for the vast majority of people on the planet. The people who are bringing up children, and dealing with the struggles and the joys that all that entails; the people who are working in some fast-paced world with never, it seems, enough time to get everything done they should get to; the people who are struggling with their health; their wellbeing; with their safety … I’m thinking of the many people listening to today’s program in war-torn parts of Africa, from within refugee camps (where I know we have many listeners); I’m thinking of the person who’s just been diagnosed w