What is the key to living a contented life? Is it fame, material wealth, power, marriage, children, or consumption of a rare Amazonian herb yet to be discovered ? If history would be any indicator, I would postulate that it is none of the above.
You’ve likely encountered someone in your close circle of family or acquaintances who has come abruptly face to face with a prognosis predicting their life has a rapidly approaching end game. Talk to anyone faced with this unsettling news and they will tell you that their world quickly becomes very small- compacted into the most essential and important of tasks and relationships. They speak of family and close friends as being the critical ingredient to squeezing the most out of the precious life they have left on earth. They don’t spend their last days scrambling for one last power move, one last successful stock trade, or securing a square on the Hollywood star walk of fame. They draw those they love close to them, reinforce beloved connections, and often seek to repair those relationships damaged by human misplaced priorities and misunderstandings. Impending death also tends to make one consider the state of their spirituality; what will happen to me and my loved ones after death? It’s no secret that one of the things we all have in common is that our life on earth will end, maybe sooner, maybe later; but one day each of our hearts will stop beating.
So, if this is not revolutionary information, why is it we are so easily distracted into the human moth- like behavior of being drawn towards the light of worldly priorities rather than those of eternal value? I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I suspect we as humans are too easily distracted by the allure of the world’s definition of success; the distractions created by selfishness, and desires created when we compare the state of our lives to that of others.
History is littered with detailed accounts of military generals that authored death and destruction because of a desire for more power, more land, more of what someone else had that they desired. Yet, despite the acquisition of astounding power and victory, their life, like everyone before them, ended in death- sometimes at the hands of assassination, sometimes of illness. Even the most powerful man on earth cannot claim exemption from the reaper.
Likewise, clearly fame is not the magical solution to contentment if tabloid headlines are any indicator. All too frequently the front page proclaims yet another celebrity death due to an abundance of self- medication as they sought to escape the undesirable side of fortune by chasing a magical formulaic concoction of happiness in the form of drugs and alcohol.
What about marriage and children? Surely this is the path to happiness and success? Apparently not accordingly to the percentage of marriages that end in divorce. Even those that remain happily married will tell you that marriage is not an easy journey, and although it certainly can add to the quality and satisfaction of life, it does not come with out it’s struggles, and in and of itself does certainly not guarantee a contented life. God created us as social beings designed to commune with one another, but while marriage and children are certainly a blessing from God, we would be horribly misleading a friend if we told them the secret to happiness is simply to get indiscriminately get married and have children.
No, the secret to contentment and satisfaction cannot be found in earthly markers of success or achievement. I think the secret is two-fold: contentment with what God provides us, and a life that prioritizes a relationship with God.
Eve and Adam’s sin was not rooted in eating the wrong fruit, but rather in desiring that which God did not wish for them to have. Eve sinned in caving to the serpent’s alluring temptation- “Wouldn’t it be great if you had the god-like power of knowledge?” Wouldn’t it be great if- I won the lottery, was a famous celebrity, was CEO of a fortune 500 company… fill in your blank. Adam and Eve chose to believe the serpent’s promise of earthly pleasures and disbelieve God’s warning of death that would come from disobedience.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-4
Is this really any different from our desires to cave to the pressures of our culture’s narrowly defined version of success as measured by our bank accounts, possessions, or influence and power? I am not saying that God does not want us to succeed or to prosper, but rather that we need to be content with the success and possessions that he has blessed us with, not succumbing to the allure of “more.” God did not put Adam and Eve in dire surroundings of destitution- they had access to the entire garden of Eden- all except for that one tree in the middle of the garden. That one tree that God wanted to protect them from. The one tree that by avoiding they would display their trust in God’s Word; displaying their trust that God had their best interests in mind. They needed to trust that “more” wasn’t necessarily better, but that contentment with God and his provision was enough.
Because we are indeed social creatures, created by a God who desires a relationship with us. We will never be truly fulfilled until we have a relationship with our Creator, who loves us beyond comprehension and who desires an intimate relationship with us.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9-13
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4.
“Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.
“And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8.
One of the greatest gifts God has bestowed on earthly mortals is the gift of children, or a relationship with a child. It is through this gift that perhaps God is best able to demonstrate the depth of his love and desire for a relationship with us. Yet, even the love for a child does not come close to God’s incomprehensible love for us; it is simply the earthly analogy of His desired connection to each of us.
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will …” Ephesians 1:4-5.
God loves you and desires a close relationship with you, including your flaws and all. As his creation, there is nothing he doesn’t know about you, and wishes you a life of satisfaction, contentment and blessing. The type of contentment that comes from a life that trusts God for their best life. A life that finds satisfaction in contentment with what God has already provided and trusts that God will continue to provide adequately and abundantly; maybe not all that we want, but all that He knows is best for us.
A Peace of Humble Pie 