Contentment

contentment [noun] 

happiness and satisfaction, often because you have everything you need:

Cambridge Dictionary

 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.                                                                                     Philippians 4:10-13

We are always looking for contentment. The Cambridge Dictionary includes in this definition  “having everything you need”. So often, we define contentment as “having everything we want. Funny how needs and wants change over the years, based upon the wealth and expectations that our culture sets forth.

In the industrialized world, our expectations have, ironically, crowded out our sense of contentment. What is it that we really need to be content? Certainly, the basic needs of shelter, safety, food and clothing are essential. Yet there are some people who are content who do not even have all of those basic needs.

Contentment is perhaps more of a mindset than a storehouse of wealth and financial security. Wealth can vanish pretty quickly in some cases- witness the 1929 Depression, or even the more recent 2008 financial crisis. Having a true foundation, security, does not lie in wealth, of course, but in the pursuit of meaning, gratitude for what we do have, and a trust that Jesus is the one who gives us security.

Prayer: Lord, in you we have contentment, Amen