I have a contentment problem. But it’s probably not the way you think.

I don’t have any of those big-ticket contentment issues.

I love my wife and couldn’t picture living my life with anyone but here.

I adore my children and look forward to coming home to them at the end of each day.

I don’t want a bigger or better house. My Hyundai is just fine, thank you.

I couldn’t imagine shelling out big bucks for any item. I’m genuinely and generally happy with the content of my life.

It’s the little things where I struggle with being content. And because they are so seemingly small, I feel that they are, in the long run, more insidious and problematic than some of those “big-ticket” items.

Some Examples:

• I’ll go to the library and check out 3-4 books. I’ll be excited about reading through each of them. However, before I even get into the second book I’ll lose interest and ready to go check out new books.
• I’ll bug Tracy relentlessy to delete programs off of the TIVO just to feel a sense of accomplishment when everything has been watched.  Then, we can start over.
• I’m so restless with my sermon series right now because I’m looking forward to starting my new series in September.  I’ve walked laboriouslly through the Old Testament for the past year.  I’m ready to hit the New.

The reason I think this is insidious is because it dampens the joy in which I approach life.  I’m always looking ahead rather than being in the now.

Whenever we go to a restaurant, it typically doesn’t matter what restaurant, my 5-year old Chloe will usually exclaim “Daddy, can we come here again?”

That’s before we even eat.  She is all the time asking what we are doing tomorrow or 8 days from now. Or how many days until “church day” again.

She’s just like me.  But it’s not healthy.  I try to tell her to just be content with the now.  Enjoy the restaurant now, don’t worry about the next time we come here.  But it rings false.  Cause I do the same.

Always waiting for the next big thing, the next pleasant surprise or neat discovery.  And that’s sin.  Sin that must be rooted out before it progresses to more harmful areas.

Because, understand this, all sin is progressive and deadly.  It does not remain content.  It seeks to grow and fester.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:11 that we are to be content in whatever situation we find ourselves

So here is what I am striving to do.  Maybe you find yourself struggling with contentment issues.  Maybe it is those “big ticket” items you are struggling with.  Maybe it is something as seemingly innocuous as mine.  Whatever the case, here are a few steps to overcoming any discontent you might feel:

1. Rid yourself of excess desires.  I must learn to seek the joy in what I am doing now.  I can’t bog myself down in what might be waiting at the library, for the blessing is what I am reading now.  The import of the message is not what I will preach in October but what God needs to say now.  There is no certainty of that next trip to the library.  There is only what I do now.
2. Divest.  I have too much stuff.  I acquire, collect and consume.  However, contentment cannot come through procurement.  It can only truly come by giving.
3. Spend time on the important stuff. I get bogged down in the minutia of sermon prep and study.  Sure, it’s important.  But it’s never the sermon of my life.  The value I place of family and friendship is paramount. A sermon delivered pales in comparison to a sermon lived.  Chloe starts kindergarten in 9 days.  I will spend more time with her in the interim.
4. See opportunities rather than barriers. A tremendous roadblock to our contentment has to do with our perspective.  I often allow the continual disruptions to my day to irritate me rather than to see them as opportunities to invest in others. If Jesus is the perfecter of our faith than all situations in life are just opportunities to be a greater reflection of Him.
5. Trust.  Understand that He is the perfecter of our faith.  He can give us joy enough, love enough, contentment enough, because He is faithful
6. Surrender. It’s one thing to trust.  It’s something else entirely to completely surrender to Him.  That means allowing yourself to go where He would have you to go.  Stop trying to be in control. Stop trying to set the agenda. Just be. This doesn’t come naturally.  It means letting go of the wheel.  But understand this: He will never fail you.

Thoughts?