The Theology of Enough
We need contentment to relate correctly to money and, in a similar way, to possessions. The rules here are simple:
1. God comes first and possessions come second. [Well, people come second…but I am pulling this quote a little out of context, so go easy on Mr. Swenson]
2. Possessions are to be used, not loved.
~ RICHARD SWENSON, Margin
I love simple truths. But sometimes it’s hard to live them out.
Can we today? Will we?
* * *
Discontentment happens when I don’t have what I want.
Contentment happens when I realize that I have so much more than I deserve.
~ Stephen Altrogge
I know I’m supposed to be content.
But here’s what often happens:
...then I would be content.
Or so the theory goes.
But I know better. You, too?
My heart persuades me that all my longings for peace and comfort and joy can be satisfied in things other than God.
If I have children I’ll be happy. If I get married I’ll be happy. If I can finally get out of this stupid college I’ll be happy.
But we’ll never be happy from playing the “if only” game.
Why are so m many Christians, who supposedly have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in their hearts, so not joyful?
...I am my own worst enemy. The raging covetous, discontented desires come from within. They’re not the product of my circumstances, and the desires won’t be satisfied when circumstances change.
Being at the center of our universe won’t make us happy either.
Discontentment begins…when I forget that God is God and that he is allowed to do with me whatever he wants, whatever will bring him glory.
Discontentment results from a big view of myself and a very little view of God.
But if we trade our obsession of self with an obsession for God, we can find contentment because we will be fulfilling our purpose: glorifying God.
Altrogge points out that contentment and idolatry don’t mix. Contentment does not come from stifling all our desires—wanting nothing—but from redirecting them. Instead of misplaced worship on our idols (anything we love more than God), repent and find the greatest joy from worshiping our Creator.
Instead of believing Satan’s lies,
drink often from the fountainhead of contentment: the gospel of Christ.
I need to stop and stare and wonder and laugh at the goodness of God in the gospel. I need to spend time working on my gospel math, calculating the infinite distance between what I deserve and what I’ve received.
…If I want to overcome discontentment, I need to spend time wallowing in the gospel.
True contentment is found only in Jesus. Altrogge points it out often, that “without Christ we can never be truly content, regardless of the blessings that surround us. And with Christ we can be content in the midst of every circumstance.”
But how do we draw strength from Christ (Philippians 4:13)?
The book suggests these three ways:
Altrogge uses scriptures as the foundation for his message. He also writes with humor and from personal experience, and quotes plentifully from other sage Christians.
He refers often to my favorite classic book on contentment: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. If you want to dig deeper in and you have patience for the writings of a Puritan, Jeremiah Burrough’s book is well worth your time and energy.
So did God purposely have me read The Greener Grass Conspiracy right before tornadoes knocked out my electricity for a week? I think yes. It’s definitely helped my perspective to be reminded that my truest desires are filled in the power of Christ, not in any man-made power.
I’m still far from arriving at Paul’s amazing state (Philippians 4:11,12), but I’m blessed by every reminder that only in Christ do we find true contentment.
* * *
What helps you find contentment?
Thanks to Crossway for providing this book for review.
Thanks to my in-laws for sharing today: their washer/dryer, a full home-cooked meal with all the trimmings, hot water, cold drinks and internet. :-) We won’t get to stay long so we can travel home before curfew. Times are weird, but God is good!
To my blogging friends, THANK YOU for your prayers for those of us in the south still cleaning up and awaiting electricity (Day 4), etc. We have felt them and the Lord is sustaining us through them!
Or, 5 questions to ask yourself in a yucky situation
On Wednesday:
Me: You see that smoke? That’s not coming from us, is it?
Jenna: No. It’s another car.
Me: No, it IS us! And it’s coming from under the hood! And your temperature gauge is hot.
Jenna: And getting hotter.
Me: Pull over!
Thus it begins…
How do you make the most of a bad situation?
Here are 5 questions to ask yourself in it.
1. Did somebody receive an opportunity to do good?
We pulled into the closest gas station. I called Jeff (who was in another state—what did I expect him to do?). A man in the Texaco asked Jenna if we wanted him to look at the car. Yes! He poked around, added water, and recommended a mechanic.
Jenna calls him her toothless angel. Whoever he is, I hope he feels blessed by our gratefulness for his generosity (Galatians 6:9-10).
2. Couldn’t it have been worse?
Goodness, yes. It would have been worse if Jenna had been alone. If it had been night. If we weren’t close to help. If we had been on our way to something we couldn’t reschedule. If the car had caught fire. If Sandy hadn’t been available to pick us up. On and on…
God knows our limit. He’ll only let us be tempted so far and no farther (1 Corinthians 10:13). And will always provide a way out.
3. Did anything good come out of it?
Because of the car, we missed Jenna’s appointment to get her picture taken for the newspaper contest she won. But they easily rescheduled her to Thursday. So instead of Wednesday’s picture—straight from ballet class—hot, sweaty, and not-happy-with-her-hair, she got a fresh shot yesterday morning and was so pleased.
We won’t always see the benefit, and certainly not always quickly, but whether we see it or not, we can trust that the Lord is working behind the scenes to make something good happen (Romans 8:28). And usually in a far deeper way than we’re capable of understanding.
4. What’s the lesson?
I learned that even car problems (a big YUCK for me) fall under God’s sovereign control. After Jenna and I left Texaco, we only drove a couple more miles before the overheating began again. Where were we now? A car lot with a service department! If you have to get stranded somewhere, that’s a pretty convenient place.
I learned (again) that God’s grace will always be there when I need it, and will always be enough (2 Corinthians 12:9).
5. Was God glorified in any way?
I’m seeing more and more of Jenna’s faith in ways that I know glorifies the Father. She keeps a calm head in these situations and trusts that God has everything under control.
God the Father must be pleased when he hears His child talk about Him so confidently (Psalm 28:6-7). I certainly would be.
* * *
We got Jenna’s car back yesterday, after having the heater hose replaced. So far, so good!
How do you find contentment in a difficult situation?
Jeremiah Burroughs gives his final suggestions on how to be content, found in chapter 13 of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.
1. Fill your soul with grace
All the tricks and tools won’t do you any good if you don’t get a grip on your heart. Let grace be the ballast in your boat.
2. Keep a loose grip on the world
At some point, whatever you’re involved with will bring you some trouble and thorns. Choose carefully what you’re involved with.
3. Be sure this is where you’re supposed to be
When you know you are where God has called you, you can be quiet and content even when you meet with trouble.
4. Play fair
Whatever your work is, go by the rules. Be ethical. Seek to serve, not to be served. Stay within God’s boundaries, and you’ll remain under his protection. And sleep better at night.
5. Live by faith
Never forget God’s promise that all things work for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Exercise your faith.
6. Think spiritually
Meditate on things above (Colossians 3:1). Go higher. Talk more with God. Rise above the snakes that crawl below.
7. Be realistic
Don’t expect all the world’s material blessings to fall at your doorstep. Don’t promise yourself different things than God promises you.
8. Die to the world - daily
If your heart is dead to the world, you won’t be tossed about by its upheavals. Let your happiness come from outside the world.
9. Don’t dwell on heartaches
Dwell instead on things that comfort you. Thank God often for his mercies.
10. Reframe the past in God’s favor
“Make a good interpretation of God’s ways toward you.” There are many interpretations you can put on an event. Choose the truthful one, the one that shows God’s glory. Love thinks no evil.
11. Don’t depend on others’ interpretations
For example: Do you think your wealth is small because you measure it by America’s yardstick? “Oh, do not let your happiness depend on the fancies of other men.”
12. Don’t get too comfortable with comforts.
When you have comforts, enjoy them, but don’t become dependent upon them. If they are then one day removed, you won’t fall apart.
* * *
Burroughs concludes with this:
Here is a necessary lesson for a Christian, that Paul said, he had learned in all estates therewith to be content. Oh, do not be content with yourselves till you have learned this lesson of Christian contentment, and have obtained some better skill in it than heretofore.
I pray for better skill in it than heretofore. I thank God for lending Jeremiah Burroughs to us to provide clarity of vision for our lack, and for explaining how to use God’s tools to work towards progress in it.
If there is ever a # 2 book I will now recommend on contentment (# 1 is the Bible), this one is it. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment is a cut above. Read it; weep over it; be changed by it.
More from Chapter 13
“How to Attain Contentment – concluded”
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
In this next to last chapter of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, author Jeremiah Burroughs lays out ten considerations for contenting the heart in any trouble.
1. Understand the good outweighs the bad
Weigh the greatness of the blessings you do have against the small amount of things you lack. God’s mercies far exceed your deficiencies.
2. Recall past blessings
Remember all the good things God has given you in the past, even if you lack some of them now.
3. Reflect on present blessings
Consider all the abundant mercies that you are enjoying right now. “Name any affliction that is upon you: there is a sea of mercy to swallow it up.” Your afflictions are but a drop in the bucket of God’s ocean of mercies.
4. This is a season
God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good. We have seasons of prosperity; we have seasons of afflictions.
5. Others suffer for you
If creatures suffer for us, how much more should we be willing to suffer for God’s service?
The brute beasts must die, be roasted in the fire, boiled, come on to the plate, be hacked all in pieces, chewed in the mouth…all to nourish me, to be useful to my body, and shall not I be willing to be made anything for God, for his service?
6. Time is short
It will all be over soon. Your time here is short compared to eternity. Even if your troubles don’t end in this lifetime, they will end for you upon your death.
7. Look at examples
Consider the conditions that others have been in, both above and below you. Joseph suffered years as a slave and prisoner; Elijah was fed with ravens; Jeremiah was put into a dungeon. Visit the poor and the sick to stir up thankfulness in your heart towards God.
8. Be content with grace
If worldly men can find a kind of contentment even without Christ, how much more should you be content with grace and all spiritual blessings?
9. Learn from past mistakes
Remember times past when you were given what you wanted, but you didn’t give God the glory for it. Let that quiet your discontented thoughts now.
10. All things work for good
Recall how certain afflictions in your past turned into great blessings in the end. Sometimes it is better to be in a little ship in a storm than in a great ship that cannot maneuver quickly and may be split against the rocks. Perhaps God is saving you by placing you in a smaller vessel because he sees a storm coming ahead. His vision is long-term.
Next week: Chapter 13, “How to Attain Contentment – concluded”
More from Chapter 12
“How to Attain Contentment”
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Thanks, Jeremiah Burroughs. Now you’ve taken away six more of my beloved excuses why it’s okay for me to complain. At least sometimes. My reasons are valid ones. Right? (Excuses # 1-7 here)
Wrong. It’s never okay to grumble against God OR his workings.
But isn’t it okay to grumble about the circumstances I find myself in? Or those annoying people around me? Nope, not those either. Grumbling is never excused.
Grouching and bellyaching about how terrible we have it is never the fruit of a contented attitude. But the good news is: there’s a way out. God promises to always provide an escape from any temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). That includes the temptation to whine and complain.
He’ll either give us his grace and strength to bear up under it, or else his wisdom and courage to do something about it.
Either way, no complaining.
Not even if…
8. If it were only a different kind of trouble, I wouldn’t be complaining.
9. I’m only complaining that now I can’t help other people, due to my problem.
10. I could take it better if I just had more information.
11. If I hadn’t gotten used to life being good, I wouldn’t be complaining about this bad thing.
12. I’m only complaining because I worked so hard for this, then it fell through.
13. But at least I don’t complain out loud; I keep all my grumbling to myself.
* * * * *
Stripped of our excuses, what are we left to do? Next week: Chapter 12, How to Attain Contentment.
* * * * *
In The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs lays out the excuses we give to justify our discontent. Then counteracts each one. He doesn’t go easy on us.
See how many excuses are yours. Unfortunately, I claim several already.
* * * * *
The first seven of Mr. Burrough’s thirteen excuses (in my own words):
I have a right to complain because…
1. I’m really not even complaining; I’m just telling it how it is.
2. I’m not troubled by my problem; I’m just troubled by my sin.
3. I think God has abandoned me in my trouble.
4. If it were God disciplining me, I wouldn’t complain. But it’s people.
5. It caught me off guard; otherwise, I would handle it better.
6. My problems are exceptionally hard.
7. My pain is worse than your pain.
* * * * *
Which is your favorite excuse? Better think twice the next time you want to use it….
Next: Excuses # 8 – 13
More from Chapter 11
“The Excuses of a Discontented Heart”
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
WARNING! This one is gonna get ugly.
In chapter 10, “The Aggravations of the Sin of Murmuring” in The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs lists eleven ways that complaints can be amplified.
Accept my apologies, Mr. Burroughs (1599-1646), for modernizing your list below. And turning it on its head.
1. Complain louder than you thank
Good health insurance and easy access to doctors’ facilities mean nothing if you have to wait an hour and a half in a waiting room and no one personally apologizes to you for it. Complain, at a minimum, to your family and friends. Nah, not enough. Go ahead and twitter it to the world.
2. Moan about little things
You’ve been blessed with a nice home in a sweet neighborhood, a husband that earns a steady income, you have many friends. But your microwave oven only works 95% of the time. Unbelievable.
3. Even though you’re a man, still complain
[Huh?]
As a man, you’ve been given many “gifts and wisdom” and opportunities. But if something still doesn’t go your way, behave as “sometimes children and women who are weak” do. [Just quoting Mr. Burroughs here, remember 1599-1646?…]
OR, to better fit MY world,
As a woman, you’re getting to stay home and take care of the family and school your children yourself. But what about your me time? Make an issue of it if you’re not getting your fair share of it.
4. Cut no slack for freebies
Just because God has given you free grace, free forgiveness, and free eternal life doesn’t mean you can’t complain to him about not giving you a pain-free body. Let him know what you deserve for all you’ve done for him.
5. Complain if you don’t get it; complain if you do
Bad news: Your husband is working out of town; you miss him. Bad news: Your husband is working in town; now you have to cook a real supper and can’t stay up writing ‘til midnight.
6. Forget that you have more now than ever
So what if your first car had no air conditioning? None. Ever. Now complain if you have to be without A/C, in your car, for a few days while a part is being ordered.
7. Grumble about your sin’s consequences
Don’t think about how often God forgives you for your sin of [choose one, at any given moment], say, overeating. Instead, whimper about how your stomach hurts from too much popcorn, root beer, and double-stuff oreo cookies.
8. Whine that God isn’t using you in a big way
Even as you’re fretting over lost time spent driving a friend to an appointment, wonder in your head why God hasn’t given you more important work to do.
9. Don’t accept God’s will without a fight
You’re part of a great church family with God-fearing leaders and Jesus-loving brothers/sisters. Not enough. Murmur about how slow things are to change, how certain decision-makers just don’t get you or your awesome ideas, how things don’t always go the way YOU see best. Don’t rest in knowing that God will make change, if/when necessary, in HIS best timing.
10. The more grace in troubles, the more complaints
So what if God has sustained you beautifully for two years of your husband’s traveling work schedule? Yes, you’ve stayed madly in love; you’re still close; you still love hanging out together every chance you get. But now that the travel is almost over, start worrying about how hard it might be to rearrange your schedule, again, to accommodate the change of having him in town full-time.
11. Don’t learn from long-term afflictions
Don’t take the hint that God has a lesson for you to learn by giving you an extended opportunity for patience and serving. Instead, inwardly resent that for the past 15 years you’re often grading papers after supper instead of spending the evening in pleasure reading. Just because you’ve been a Christian a long time doesn’t mean you have to mature like one.
* * * * *
No innocent people were harmed in the writing of this post.
There were no innocent people.
There were, however, tears of repentance.
* * * * *
And there is much rejoicing in God’s mercy! Believers in Jesus are not destined to wallow in condemnation, but to celebrate as the joyfully adopted FORGIVEN sons and daughters that we are. His grace is a gift I desperately need and gratefully accept.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-9
So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Hebrews 4:16 (The Message)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus 3:5-6 (NIV)
We all live off his generous bounty,
gift after gift after gift.
John 1:16 (The Message)
More from Chapter 10
“Aggravations of the Sin of Murmuring”
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
(Is anybody else besides me growing more uncomfortable the deeper we go underwater in this book?)
I’m grappling within my own soul to answer my contentment dilemma of the week: Can a wholesome desire for positive change cross over into discontentment?
Wanting a situation to improve is not wrong, nor necessarily a sign of discontentment. But it can grow into that. How do I know when it’s crossed the line? What is it that pushes it over the ugly edge?
And how can I use a spirit of humility to keep that from happening, or to repent if it already has?
I don’t find exact answers in this chapter. But what I do find is more and more motivation to keep searching. The evils below are quite ominous and I do want to avoid them at all costs.
* * * * *
Why is murmuring so bad? Because …
6. It undoes your prayers
If you’re never satisfied with God’s answers, why are you even praying at all? Until you’re prepared to be at his disposal, don’t bother.
7. It has bad aftereffects
(1) It eats up your time. Instead of spending your time in wholesome thought or worship, you’re vainly wasting it on discontented thoughts.
(2) It makes you unfit for duty. Instead of performing your best at the job at hand, you’re too distracted with fretting over the affliction that has befallen you.
(3) It prompts wicked plans. In your discontent, you may make resolutions that are good for nothing except evil.
(4) It robs you of a thankful attitude. You end up amplifying evil things and minimizing good things.
(5) It causes a shift in your spirit. Many who have changed course for the bad can trace the root back to a discontented spirit.
8. It is a foolish sin
(1) It’s foolish to diminish the enjoyment of what you do have by grumbling about what you don’t have.
(2) It’s foolish because it doesn’t work. It adds nothing to your life.
(3) It’s foolish because its resulting behaviors are shameful to you and your friends.
(4) It’s foolish to complain about a gift before you even get it.
(5) It’s foolish because it makes your burden even heavier than it normally would be.
9. It is dangerous
God hates murmuring; it provokes his wrath. And beware that even if you’re not grumbling to others, God still hears the roaring in your heart. But you can’t hear him over the noise of your own grumbling.
10. It has the curse of God on it
If the ungodly continue to grudge, God will see that they never find any satisfaction. “But they shall say in the morning, Would God it were even! and at even, Would God it were morning!”
11. It has Satan’s spirit in it
The Devil is the most discontented being ever. And the most dejected. When your spirit has no rest, consider if you have too much of that unclean spirit of Satan in you.
12. It can ruin the rest of your life
If you can’t learn to find contentment in afflictions, you’re in big trouble. Life here will always have afflictions.
13. It provokes God to leave you alone
God may decide that if you constantly complain about his care and protection, he’ll withdraw it altogether. Then what?
* * * * *
When you’re struggling with the question of discontentment, a worthy exercise is to look at the fruit being produced. Do you see any of these 13 evil effects growing alongside your affliction?
If so, humble yourself and seek the Lord’s guidance. It’s self-examination time for me (Psalm 139:23-24).
More from Chapter 9
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
He’s getting ugly now.
In chapter 8 of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs has us look eye to eye with how evil our complaining and murmuring really is. Recognize anybody you know? I’ve seen a reflection of myself this week. It’s not pretty.
Murmuring is like smoke: it indicates something is smoldering underneath.
Watch out for these first five smoke signs of evils in chapter 8, with eight more to follow next week in chapter 9.
1. Reveals corruption in your soul
If every little scratch makes you bleed profusely or leaves a nasty sore, you know something even bigger has gone wrong inside your body. Just so, if every little trouble makes you discontented, your soul is sick. A corrupted soul is a bigger problem than the affliction itself. Purge the inflammation in your heart so you can be healed at the soul level.
2. Marks you as ungodly
Murmuring is not as small a matter as you think. “You think you are not as ungodly as others, because you do not swear and drink as others do, but you may be ungodly in murmuring...God will look upon you as ungodly for this sin as well as for any sin whatever.”
3. Brands you as rebellious
A rebellious heart is the opposite of a contented, worshipful heart. To be a murmurer is to be a rebel against God. When you feel a complaining attitude coming on, check it. Humble yourself before God because of this sin, before it leads you into full-blown, open rebellion.
4. Contradicts the work of God’s grace
The usual method of receiving grace is to first recognize your sin, see how it contrasts with Christ’s glory, disengage your heart from worldly things, depend on Jesus for all, submit yourself to God’s rule, and covenant yourself to him. If you keep your mind on this work of God in your soul, you’ll have no space for murmuring.
5. Is too low for a Christian
Murmuring should be a thing of your past because you now have a relationship with God as Father, with Jesus as spouse, as a member of his body, and as home to his Spirit. Let your spirit reflect the Father’s Spirit. Profess your deadness to the world and your aliveness in God. Meet God’s expectations to not only be patient in afflictions, but rejoice and triumph in them. Follow the example of other Christians who have found contentment in great afflictions.
* * * * *
The picture that Burroughs paints of a murmurer makes me wince, but it also motivates me to not be this way.
I want to be more satisfied with God today than I was yesterday, and even more so tomorrow than today.
Is that possible? Only with my conscious desire and with his supernatural help. May both be so.
More from Chapter 8
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
- Continued from “5 Reasons to Seek Contentment” -
Five more reasons from Jeremiah Burroughs on why contentment in God is a thing to be treasured. Oh, that I could get these deep down in my soul!
6. Contentment brings many comforts.
It frees you from dependence on the whims of others. It also acts as a light in any storm. A sailor on a ship may be pleased with great stores of food, but he still needs a lantern to light the way in storms. 
7. Contentment requires no ownership.
Once I get this (then this…), I’ll be content. Why not just be content now? Contentment isn’t found in possessing, but in God. Happiness in getting one thing doesn’t transfer to happiness across the board, but contentment does cover all situations. Things may make you wealthy, but contentment can make you better. God is more honored by worshipers in affliction than by angels with no trials.
8. When you’re content, God helps you enjoy what you already have.
“We may have the thing and yet not enjoy it unless God comes in with his blessing. Now whatever you have, you enjoy it; many men have possessions and do not enjoy them.” God can fashion your heart to be suited to your circumstances with joy.
9. God can give you the blessing of the thing, with or without the thing itself.
He provides the same comfort for what you are contented to be without. If you lack what others have, but are content anyway, God can provide the blessing to you of all they have, whether or not you have it. With contentment, you have all kinds of riches.
10. Being content in God is all-sufficient.
God himself is self-sufficient. If all the creatures in the world were annihilated, God would remain the same blessed God that he is now. Just so, if all in your world is taken away, yet you still have God as your portion, you can be as content then as you are now.
The list of these ten reasons is quite convincing: being content in God is a thing of excellence.
Does it seem too good to be true? Such are God’s promises!
What’s so great about contentment?
Jeremiah Burroughs lists 10 reasons why contentment is a thing of excellence, in Chapter 7 of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.
The first five are below. The last five are here.
1. Being content is one way we worship God.
It honors God when we see him as enough for us. Work to please God, but also work to be pleased by God.
2. Contentment is a grace you can exercise.
Use it to strengthen you to endure hardships. Use it find beauty all around you. Use it to show others how to live quietly, even amidst afflictions.
3. You receive more mercy when you’re content.
Throwing temper tantrums won’t get us what we want. A prisoner doesn’t get rid of his chains by thrashing about and trying to tear them off, but by quietly giving himself up to someone who can take them off. Our strength comes in stillness, when God can say, “Now you shall have comfort; now I will give you the mercy.”
4. The Lord uses the contented to carry out his work.
Steady hearts are freer to move in service for God, whereas the disturbed lack the spirit needed for many tasks.
5. Contentment keeps us away from many temptations.
“The Devil loves to fish in troubled waters.” He finds the easiest converts among the discontent. But God dwells in peaceable and quiet spirits. “Oh, if you would free yourselves from temptations, labor for contentment.”
These five reasons alone are enough to encourage us to truly seek our contentment in God. But five more reasons are still ahead...find them here.
Mark 5:19
But Jesus insisted that the man go home instead, and spread the good news about the Lord’s power and his compassion.
Help me do that, too, Lord…let me tell how much you’ve done for me, and tell of your mercy on me.
What has the Lord done for me?
Besides saving my soul (as if that’s not enough, even if he never did anything else), lately he’s been prodding me to seek a deeper level of contentment in him.
But the first step has been making me more aware of my discontentedness. Not so pretty.
He’s using the words of a Puritan (go figure) to help me see new light in old scriptures, and to root out some sinful attitudes. He’s also using the lives of others with this same goal towards contentment via the book study group at Challies.com.
How has the Lord had mercy on me?
One way is through solitude. While it’s not a need for many, having times of aloneness is hugely important to my psyche. The Lord knows that. (And he knows my wants usually outstrip my needs...oh, wait, I’m straying back to discontentedness).
So I notice that whenever I start getting antsy from being around people too much, the Lord sends me a pocket of solitude. Ahhh. And he restores my soul in it. In his mercy, he cuts me slack.
While I beg for his power to strengthen me through trials, I also crave his mercy when I am tired and weak.
He knows when to give each. He’s perfect.
So like the demon-possessed man, I’m telling it, too — the Lord has done much for me and he has had great mercy on me. Will you spread the news, too?
7. Understand the burdens of prosperity
Although many search for contentment in money, it’s not there. Jeremiah Burroughs lays out four burdens that come with riches:
(1) Trouble
If you think a rich life = a trouble-free life, you’re wrong. As rose bushes also have thorns, so riches also bring sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10). From a distance, we don’t notice the thorns, but as Burroughs states, “A happy man may have a very fine new shoe, but nobody knows where it pinches him except the one who has it on.”
(2) Danger
When you’re prosperous, you engage a whole new set of temptations. “Tall trees are a great deal more broken than low shrubs.” The rich man may lie awake at night with great burdens on his shoulders that the poor man may not consider.
(3) Duty
The more you have, the more you’re responsible for. God requires more duty from those who have been given much.
(4) Accountability
When he was about to die, it’s reported that King Philip of Spain said, “Oh, that I had never been a king! Then I should have died a great deal more securely, I should with more confidence have gone before the throne of God to give my account. This is the fruit of my kingdom, because I had all the glory of it, it has made my account harder to give to God.”
8. Better to be poor, than hard from receiving heart’s desires
If your desires are not compatible with God’s will, pray you don’t receive them. “The greatest misery of all is for God to give you up to your heart’s lusts and desires.” (Psalm 81:11,12) Time and again, God conveyed his wrath in the Old Testament through prosperous conditions. We mistakenly equate wealth with blessedness, but there is no direct correlation in either direction.
9. Know that God’s providence is always right
Why? Because...
(1) His providence is universal. It reaches to every detail.
(2) His providence is all-powerful. You can’t stop it.
(3) His providence works everything together. We look at things by pieces; he looks at things all at once.
(4) His providence can be generally known. Seek to understand these principles of God’s ways to be at peace with them: You WILL have afflictions; God brings the greatest comforts after the greatest sorrows; and God works in opposites (greatest good comes out of the greatest evil, etc.).
This concludes Burroughs’ lessons on how Christ teaches us to be content. Tough lessons. But worthy ones to help us understand that the source of our contentment is not in anything this world offers, but rather in enjoying and trusting God.
More from Chapter 6
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
1. Learn to deny yourself.
Burroughs breaks this into 8 smaller sub-lessons. Know these:
(Whew—that list can make a person feel pretty small, huh? Um, maybe that’s the point? “A discontented heart is troubled because he has no more comfort, but a self-denying man rather wonders that he has as much as he has.”)
2. Don’t seek contentment in things of this world.
It’s like expecting the wind to satisfy your hunger. It’s not that you don’t have enough of it, but that it’s the wrong thing altogether.
3. Understand that only one thing is necessary.
Make your peace with God. Everything else is icing on the cake.
4. Remember you’re only passing through.
You’re on your way to another country, as a traveling soldier who’s already been assured of the victory.
5. Use every situation to draw nearer to God and enjoy him more in it.
When God moves you on, go gladly instead of staying stuck in a job that’s been completed.
6. Study your own heart.
Why?
Next week: Chapter 6, How Christ Teaches Contentment – continued -
More from Chapter 5
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
12. Enjoy God in all
Simply put: God has all; I have God; so I have all.
Whatever lack that Christians may have is filled in the kingdom because “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
Burroughs explains it this way: Suppose a king goes abroad and faces trouble there. No problem—he remains content because he knows he has a kingdom of his own at home.
The same applies to us. Regardless of what may happen to us in the physical realm, we can be at peace because that kingdom is not our concern; we live in the Kingdom of God within our soul.
Another analogy: A man has a nagging wife. She complains and moans so much that he finds any excuse he can for leaving the house.
But a man that has “a pleasant home, a good wife, and fine walks and gardens” does not care much for going out. So it is that while a carnal man is not quiet in his own spirit, a contented man “delights in looking into his own heart.” He has God within himself, and that is enough to make him happy.
13. Covenant and Promises
Contentment comes from the covenant in general and from the promises in particular.
In general, even though life events may not go as we plan, we know that our salvation is sure, God is in control, and he pledges himself to make up all. “Sucking this sweetness from the Covenant” allows a man to endure his afflictions with contentment.
The particular promises come from the root of the great Covenant of grace in Christ. While each promise in the Bible does NOT apply specifically to our situations, we do inherit the intent and the results. We do not read the promises of God as merely stories, but with an eye toward their fulfillment (albeit not necessarily literal) in our own lives.
14. Kingdom now, Kingdom later
Even with afflictions here for a moment, we can delight that a fuller glory is ahead. “A carnal heart has no contentment but from what he sees before him in this world, but a godly heart has contentment from what he sees laid up for him in the highest heaven.”
15. Tell God about it
Those with carnal hearts have no way to relieve themselves when they are angered except through “abuse and bitter words.” But a godly man can open his heart to God, letting out his sorrows and fears with him, and walk away with a joyful countenance.
So Burroughs concludes his explanation of 15 mysteries of contentment so that we may “see fully what an art Christian contentment is.”
More from Chapter 4
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Finally, the gentleman sitting beside me stood up, and with a few gentle shoves, pushed the lady’s suitcase the rest of the way in.
There are some things you just can’t do on our own, no matter how hard you try, or what angle you approach it.
You need help. Everybody does.
When it’s physical, you call on an extra set of muscles for help. But when it’s spiritual, and you call on the Lord for help, how does he answer you?
Sometimes he sends someone else to stand beside you to lift up the heavy suitcase and put it where it belongs.
Other times, not. So how is he helping you then?
In Chapter 3 of Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs addresses this very question. He says the carnal heart not only sees no answer, but finds even the question itself ridiculous.
His answer? Faith. When we have faith that there indeed IS one strong enough to handle our burden, we are then graced with that same strength ourselves.
And not only will we receive strength enough to endure, but to endure with joy. Because of faith. Because we believe that He can do this for us.
If the burden becomes doubled, Burroughs says, then the strength is tripled. The strength will always outweigh the burden, if you get your strength from Jesus.
So when you cry out, “I can’t bear this!”, do you think Christ could not bear it? If he could bear it, why do you not think he will help you bear it, too? Scripture testifies over and over that Christ’s strength is yours and that God himself is your strength.
Don’t settle for a little strength. That is what the carnal man can do—by reason and nature alone. Instead, draw upon the great strength that comes directly from Jesus. Together you’ll lift the suitcase. And do it with joy.
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.
Colossians 1:11
More on Chapter 3
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
“A godly heart enjoys much of God in everything he has, and knows how to make up all wants in God himself.”
Chapters 2 and 3
Rare Jewel
Jeremiah Burroughs
I’m trying to keep it real. I’m trying to make it personal.
What are you LEAST content with, this day/week/month?
For me, it’s my husband’s work schedule. I’ve been fighting spiritual warfare here for several months. There have been victories, thanks to the grace of God. God has answered prayers to keep our marriage strong. He has miraculously helped me keep my complaining to a minimum. And He has helped me understand that my “suffering” is relatively small compared to Jeff’s much tougher situation.
But I’m still not where I want to be. My attitude still needs work. And even though the work circumstances are temporary, I want to take advantage of them to learn more spiritual lessons in Christian contentment…to take it up a notch.
Enter Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Chapters 2 and 3.
* * * * *
Jeremiah Burroughs lays out 13 things about the Mystery of Contentment.
1. Most satisfied = Most dissatisfied
The one most content in God is the same one most unsatisfied with what the world offers. Those things that will satisfy the world will not satisfy him.
2. Subtract, not add
The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have. But the truly content match their hearts to their circumstances, not vice-versa.
3. Take on a heavier burden
Instead of being dissatisfied that your burden remains, add another burden—the sin in your heart. The heavier the burden of your sin is to your heart, the lighter will be the burden of your affliction to your heart, and so you shall come to be content. Humble your soul before God for your sins.
4. Let it morph
Let the affliction turn into something else. Let God bring light out of darkness. In scripture, you do not find one godly man who came out of an affliction worse than when he went into it; though for a while he was shaken, yet at last he was better for an affliction.
5. Work it
Fulfill the duty of the circumstance. Set your heart to work in the immediate situation instead of dwelling on greener grass elsewhere. The circumstances that I am in, God has put me into by His own counsel, the counsel of His own will. Now I must serve God’s counsel in my generation.
6. Change your will
Make God’s will and your will the same. Change yours into His. See that your good is more in God than in yourself.
7. Purge sin
You don’t need more from the outside to make your condition more comfortable, but instead purge out the sin that is within (James 4:1).
8. Feed on God’s dew
A Christian can get food that the world does not know of; he is fed in a secret way by the dew of the blessing of God. Be content with what you have because: it is from God’s love; it has been sanctified for good; it is free; Christ bought it first; it is a taste of what’s to come.
9. It’s from love
Even in afflictions, see love. All God’s strokes are strokes of love and mercy, all God’s ways are mercy and truth, to those that fear Him and love Him (Psalm 25:10).
10. Jesus was first
Whatever your afflictions, Jesus had them first, and thus they are sanctified by your Mediator.
11. Use Christ’s strength
You can bear your burden by getting your strength from someone else. Find your strength in Jesus.
12. Enjoy God in all
God is in what you have. Don’t live so much in yourself, but in God. The Kingdom is within you (Luke 17:21). God Himself makes up for all your wants.
13. Covenant
Rest on the promises in the covenant that God has made with you.
* * * * *
Summary
So for me, that means I allow my satisfaction to come from trusting that God is in control of the work schedule, His hand has allowed it, and He is more than enough to meet my needs in the midst of it.
I am to align my will with His will, see the blessings in the difficulties, humble myself for my sins that it is bringing to light, and do whatever duties are necessary for the day. God brings light out of darkness, and He will morph this into something better in time.
Christ has been through the same temptations that I’m facing, and he overcame. By resting on His strength, I, too, can resist and can enjoy the Father’s blessings in little things and big things as I trust in in His promises.
My satisfaction comes from God, not from people or places or times. How does that happen? It is a mystery to me, but I believe that it does.
What are others saying?
Chapters 2 and 3, “The Mystery of Contentment”
“Lord, I see there is more to Christian contentment than I thought there was.”
~ Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs
Last paragraph, Chapter 1
Um, yes.
In the short 12 pages (but very small font) of the first chapter, Burroughs lays out what contentment is and is not. “Contentment in every condition is a great art, a spiritual mystery. It is to be learned, and to be learned as a mystery.” (Philippians 4:11-12)
Complaining 
“Not complaining” does not equate with contentment. Many may sit silently, but are they content? Not necessarily. If contentment were only an outward exercise, anybody could do it.
That doesn’t mean that you can never complain—just do it “in an orderly manner.” It is right to seek help in difficult circumstances. And nothing is wrong with trying to be delivered from afflictions. But keep a proper spirit intact during the process.
I’ve generally thought of myself as a contented person, but my weak areas are very strong. Reading through Burrough’s point-by-point definition of contentment, I recognized my own spots of discontentment as the ugly things they are. I look forward to their reduction with increased exposure to the Light.
IS NOT
8 things contentment is opposed to:
1. Murmuring
2. Fretting
3. Unruly thoughts
4. Unsettled spirit
5. Too many cares
6. Discouragement
7. A convenient “out”
8. Rebellion
IS
9 things a contented spirit is:
1. An inward work of the Spirit
2. A quiet heart
3. A whole frame of mind
4. A quieted disposition (not merely a “personality type”)
5. A free working of the Spirit
6. A voluntary submission to God
7. Agreeing that God’s hand in the affliction is good
8. Seeing God’s wisdom in everything
9. Submitting to the time and the form that the affliction takes
Summary
Sew it all back together and you get Burroughs’ definition of contentment:
“Contentment is the inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God’s disposal in every condition.”
If the rest of the book is like chapter 1, it will be a profitable study. But a hard one. The syntax isn’t easy; the concepts are difficult; and the principles are tough to swallow. Yet so far, the gain outweighs the pain.
On to Chapter 2, “The Mystery of Contentment”...
What are others saying?
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Chapter 1, “Christian Contentment Described”
Then 3 weeks from today, June 18, visit with the gang at Challies.com to start posting comments on the first section, “Christian Contentment Described.” The reading pace is always reasonable, typically one chapter/section or so per week.
Not only will the book itself be profitable reading, but the comments from the study group are sure to be thought-provoking as well. The motivation of accountability helps ensure we all stay on schedule.
The book itself is one of Jeremiah Burroughs' most valuable written contributions to the faith (so they say--he's new to me). Born in 1599, this great Puritan preacher writes of maintaining peace regardless of circumstances.
But his thoughts are just as applicable in our times as in his, because as we all know, our culture encourages discontentment and the need to buy and consume more, more, more to get and stay happy.
I look forward to reading what Mr. Burroughs has to say about it. And if you’re so inclined, I look forward to reading what you have to say about it, too.
