Great Gain!

I was casually listening to a radio bible study as I drove toward my next errand. The speaker was expounding on the scripture 1 Timothy 6:6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Now I am familiar with this scripture; I have heard it before, but this time it resonated in my mind. Godliness and contentment? What a great premise. Most believers are certainly in the pursuit of godliness, but what about this contentment thing? I think we too often are focused so much on doing the right thing that we become subject to inner turmoil and chaos that belies our profession of faith because we are not pursuing contentment as well. Contentment may be a hard earned consequence of our faith, but I believe that such a state is available to each and every believer.

Paul declares in Philipians 4:11, “Whatever state. . . I have learned to be content.” This statement, in my view, now raises the question, “How do I learn to be content? The JFB Commentary defines the word content, as used in this text, as "having a sufficiency in one's self" independent of others.” What is this sufficiency? Well, it certainly is not my turning to my own strength of heart and mind, but it is rather my trusting God’s divine plan for my life and choosing to accept my life as it is, not focusing on what’s missing or what is not in place, but rather trusting God for every provision as I pursue Him daily. To do this, I must acknowledge, daily, that God can fill every void in my life be it body, soul or spirit.

The past six years or so have certainly been a learning curve for me, having to trust God in a new season as the familiar fell away. Materially there has been no great gain, but spiritually I have grown and I am stronger, wiser and so much better (Sing Marvin!). I do not beleive it is ever God’s intent to destroy us with the winds of adversity and life's unexpected challenges and pitfalls, but adversity does offer us the opportunity to pursue God with an absolute trust that His will shall absolutely prevail in our lives. When I do make godliness and contentment my daily focus, I gain a greater insight into His love for mankind, and for me. I hear so many testimonies about how God “brought me through,” or “brought me over,” or “kept me safe.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear about contentment in the storm, and peace in the valley as we wait for God's divine intervention? Godliness with contentment, to recognize God as El Elyon, Jehovah Sabaoth and El Shaddai and then realize that there is no need for discontent or dismay, is certainly great gain. What a thought!