Kingdom Contentment - Part 1 - Overwhelmed and Undersourced

When you think of the word contented, you think of the word contentment, what comes to mind? Because we are going to be exploring over the next few weeks what the Bible says about what wants to do on the inside. Let me start with a confession, but I love flying, the more flights I have the better. That is just the way God has wired me in fact, when I get in an aeroplane, I fly high five in an aeroplane. As I get on, I fly at the skin of my teeth, I love it. I always want to sit next to a window; I want to see what is happening. I have taken a flight from Richards Bay and to Johannesburg a few times, I like to sit where I can see the wheel. I like to see when the wheel touches the ground. I love the impact, I love it when the pilot talks over the intercom and says: “Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to say we have perfect flying conditions. “ I am disappointed; I like storms and turbulence that makes it more fun.

 I could sit for eight hours on a plane watching air crash investigation episodes on the plane. I love flying, but it comes to sailing, I am a wuss. It’s amazing, how can you be so brave in the air, but sailing is a terror. It predates to when I was a kid, living in Howick and Midmar dam, and we had a small sailing boat, and the waves were big there, about four to five meters. And even there, I was never at peace sailing out on big open patches of water. I am just not the sailing type, you could say let us sail to Australia, no not for me. When I watch that round the world yacht race single handed, it must be absolutely hell. You see those waves, and the storms, and some guy single handed in his little boat in the middle of the ocean in a storm, I am thinking, no way. You can be brave in some areas, and a wuss in others. But because of my sphere of discomfort with this whole sailing thing, I love the fact that we serve a saviour who can handle little boats in oceans in storms.

 I love the fact that, if you know some of the Bible stories, you know that Jesus was involved in one of those stories with His disciples, they were out on a boat and the storm picked up, the wind was howling, the waves were picking up, the waves were lapping the boat. These were experienced fishermen, they knew the water, they knew the lake, and they knew the sea. But they were terrified; they were convinced they were going to die. And Jesus was fast asleep, and they got to the point when they woke Him up in terror. “Jesus, do you not care that we are about to die?” So, Jesus wakes up with a yawn, I do not know if it was like the Titanic where He went to the front of the boat, but He just stood there, and said: “Peace, be still.” And just like that, it was calm.

 He did not get them out of the situation, He did not change the circumstances, and He just spoke. Jesus spoke in the midst of the storm, and the storm abated. I love that about our saviour, I love the fact that a Jesus with just His words can He do so much. One simple sentence from Jesus, can turn a storm into calm into calm water. I love that about Jesus, and it is not just boats in oceans, I believe it is in our lives also. One little sentence from Jesus can turn stormy situations calm. I think Paul had a similar experience; I am going to read the passage in a moment. Many of you are have heard about Paul and his thorn, He speak about something in his life, he said it was like a satanic messenger, something that was tormenting him, Paul had something going on his life that was satanic in nature, that tormented him that he pleaded with God over and over again, “God, please change this.”

 People have speculated and though it was probably a health issue, something wrong with his eyes, or his health, and he was struggling with his health, and he felt it was like a thorn in his side, it kept plaguing him, “God, please change these circumstances.” Some people think it was actually a person, a messenger of Satan, some kind of a person who was opposed to the Gospel everywhere Paul went, he would come and destroy the crusade, and start rumors, “Please God, take this messenger of Satan away.” Some people have think maybe it was a temptation that he just struggled to walk in victory over. We do not know, and I am glad that we do not know. What we do know though, is that he had a storm in the inside. He had something that raged against him, that robbed him of peace, and he cried out to God over and over. And Guess what? God did not answer his prayer. God never took that thorn away, but an incredible thing happened. As Paul was pleading and crying to God, “there is a storm inside me.” Jesus spoke in that storm. Jesus simply said to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness.”

That was all He said, you have a red letter edition, you know all the words of Jesus was in red, right in the middle of 2 Corinthians, there are one of fourteen words of Jesus in red. “My grace is sufficient for you. “ And just like that, the circumstance did not change, the thorn did not come out. But listen to what it says. In 2 Corinthians chapter twelve verses seven to ten says: “ ⁷ or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in ORDER to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Is it not amazing? Nothing has changed; absolutely nothing has changed in his circumstances. If it was a medical thing, he still had it. If it was a temptation he wrestled with, he still had it.

 If it was a person who was opposing him, that person was still there. But everything had changed. Paul, from pleading with God, “Please take this away from me, I cannot handle this boasting.” Thank you Lord, thank you for this. Jesus had just spoken. What I want to talk about this morning is; I believe Paul discovered an incredible secret through this experience. He discovered that we serve the storm whisperer. He discovered that we serve a Savior who does not promise that he is going to change the circumstances for us. But we have a savior, who in the midst of those circumstances will speak His life and strength into us that changes everything. What I want to do, is in the next couple of weeks, I want to explore this thing. How could Paul go from torment to contentment so easily? And if Paul can do it, I believe we can do it also.  Believe that no matter what you are facing, the area of hardship, the struggle or whatever, somehow we want to learn the same secret that Paul has learnt.

 So, each week we are going to look at Paul’s life today, but over the next few weeks in this series, we are going to look at different scenarios and different key people out of scripture, how they discovered contentment in very difficult situations. Our key passage by Paul is Philippians chapter four verses ten to thirteen: “¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to SHARE in my troubles. ¹⁵ Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church SHARED with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.”

 It is a beautiful passage, and Paul is writing this whole letter as a thank you letter. The church at Philippi where Paul had started the church, it may be months, maybe years since he was last there. But this church was so greateful for what Paul had done, that from time to time they would send some financial help to help Paul. But it was a while, he has been in prison. He had been separated from them, and obviously his money had run out, he had been tent making for a while, and suddenly a gift comes from someone, and then Paul has money again. And now he wants to write back and say thank you for your gift. But as much as he is thinking them, he wants to tell them at the same time and use this opportunity and say I appreciate your gift, but the reality is, I do not need the gift. Because actually, when I have lost or little, I have learnt the secret of being content. So, I want to pull out a few things from this passage and so I was meditating over this week, some of these have really challenged me, and I hope it will challenge you also.

1.      Paul said this; “I have learnt to be content whatever the circumstances.” What we are going to discover as we look at this principle of Kingdom contentment, is that this is something that we have to lean. Some lessons in life are just completely natural. You take a baby, and as the baby grows by one year old, they get bored with crawling and they will naturally pull themselves, and next thing they are going to start walking. It is natural, it is wired into their DNA that I do not want to crawl, I want to walk. That comes naturally. Other lessons are a bit more difficult to learn. As baby grows up, you say to them; “Do not touch the barbecue, it is hot.” Then, he touches the barbecue once, and he learns the hard way that the barbecue is hot.

 Many of lessons, we learn by touching the hot barbecue. We are stupid, we do not listen, we learn the hard way and we bump our heads. There are other lessons that we know but we know them here. And we know and we agree with them, but there is a difference from knowing it in your head and knowing in your heart. Those thirty centimetres from your heart to your head can be the longest centimetres in the world. We know that God is good; we know that God loves. We know that His love never fails; we know that we cannot be shaken as we trust in Him. Yet then the storms come, and then things go wrong, and then we hit the wobbles and we sing we shall not be shaken. Because we are trying to get what is in your head down to what is in your heart. Paul said this is something I have learnt. He knew it, but now he has learnt it. For example, I have been leading this church now for fourteen or fifteen years. Early on as a leader that working in a team is so much better than working by you.

I know it, I can teach it, the Bible speaks about adding to teams and team work is vital. But I am still learning it. I know enough to teach about it, but in my daily trying to lead the church, sometimes it is hard when you are so used to be in control of something, and now teaming means letting things go, and teaming means other people doing things that you would done differently, or sometimes better. I am learning it, even though I know it. But I also have learnt that working in a team frees me up then I can focus on what God really wants me to focus on, and I can see we are becoming more effective. The problem is, when first we started the church, Kate and I, we were obviously not much of a team.

In those days, apart from making the tea, because Eleanor banned me from making the tea, after Sunday number one, but apart from that, we did everything in the beginning. So you can learn something which now you have to unlearn. You can learn that we have to do this and follow up here and visit here, and I got so used to doing something that now I know our team is better, first you have to unlearn stuff so that you can relearn some new stuff. Paul said I have learnt the secret of being content. And what I want to encourage is to realize that this morning I am praying that some pennies will drop on our heads. That makes sense, but that does not mean we have it. That is why we are going to spend four weeks on this topic. And that is why I am going to be reminding you for four weeks, and God is going to be reminding you, day by day in your situations, to get it from your head into your heart. Like Paul, I want us to learn the secret of being content.

2.      Paul said I have learnt to be content whatever the circumstances. Why would he write that? The reason is simple that our brain is hard wired to disagree with that statement. We grow up with this thinking inside us that surely contentment and circumstances are matched. That is the logical default all of us live with. Whether you actively think about it or not, that is what goes on in our subconscious. We have this thing that surely it my circumstances are good, my contentment level will be good also. When the circumstances are bad, then my contentment level would be bad also. So, I can just continually work to increase my circumstance, if I can just change the environment, I will change the contentment.

 That is how hard wired we are to think, but it is wrong. If it was right, then by the time I get to play touch rugby on Monday afternoon, I will always be in a good mood. On Monday, I have the privilege of having the day off. Work on Sundays, have Mondays off. And Mondays I get to design the circumstances of my day. I start my day, and then Kate and I have a lovely breakfast. The, it is quiet because the kids are at school. Which means the house is quiet, I can really catch up on TV, I can sleep, and this is the perfect circumstances for me. So, with perfect circumstances, you should have perfect contentment, so by five o’ clock comes and I have to go play touch rugby, I should be happy, yet often I am grumpy. Paul realized that actually circumstances and contentment are not connected. And it took him a long time to understand it and to figure that out. And until we have figured that out, we live our lives thinking if only I could adjust that circumstances, if only I could get a better job, the better this, the better that, then I would be content. And that is our default, and today I want us to repent. I want, before God, to say; “God, that thinking is wrong. That thinking will keep me chasing after seemingly perfect circumstances all my life, or blaming bad circumstances for my lack of contentment.” Church, I want us to break this thing this morning in Jesus’ name.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. What he began to do as he looked at his life, he began to realize that Actually God, you have been teaching me this lesson. So, what I want to do at this moment is you can start thinking about your life and realize that God has been teaching you the same thing. I know what it is like to be in need, I know what it is like to have plenty. So that we can do that disconnect, in our own thinking. I began to look at my life. Let us talk about the plenty and the needs. Here is my honest confession, please do not bring this up again. As a young, ambitious pastor, when we first started the church, I had this thought deep in the back of my mind that one day; we started with three, so you will understand where this is coming from. One day if the church got to a certain number, I would feel contentment. And then the churches got to that number, and guess what? You think surely Lord, if there was plenty, and then contentment does not happen. But we can all do that in different ways. If I just got that salary, or that situation, or that. Many times in our plenty, look at people around the world who have plenty.

And many of them sadly, are the saddest people in the world. But on the other side, I sat thinking about this and I realised, a few weeks ago when we were going through the blessed load shedding stage, which is a time of need, especially when at it is night. And I remember at one point sitting up in our bedroom, and there is no electricity, and it is at half past seven at night, and I am sitting on the floor with Sam and Adam with a game of mad monopoly with a candle on thinking, well, this is wonderful. This should be a time when you are frustrated because there is no light, they are incompetent, but with bad circumstances, actually, there is great contentment. The point is this, even in our own lives; God is trying to teach us this huge lesson to disconnect our circumstances from our contentment levels. If you have been blaming your particular circumstance in your life for your lack of contentment, then this morning, Jesus wants to break that. If you have been thinking; “If I can change the circumstance, I will change my contentment.”

Then Jesus wants to break that this morning. The two are disconnected. This then led me to the thing that challenges me the most. Paul said this; “I can do everything through Him who gives me peace.” No, he did not, I mean that all makes sense, surely I can do all things that will give me peace, because contentment is like peace, surely. I can do all things though Him who gives me the provisions that I need because that is going to be the key to contentment. Paul said; “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” I realised this; Kingdom contentment is not about circumstances, it is about strength. Let me say that again; contentment in our hearts is not about circumstances, it is about strength. I want you to think this through. When you feel a sense of strength in our hearts, assured, confident in God, we can be in peace and content no matter the situation. You can be in the best situation, and in the best circumstances in the world, but if you are afraid, fearful, worried, bitter, and discontent and down, you will never feel content. Contentment is not about circumstances, contentment is about strength. And when we get that lesson, it begins to change everything. I think one of the most extreme examples is, you have heard about during the Second World War, the concentration camps that people endured.

There could not be a worse environment to try and survive in. I mean, it was a torturous condition in every way, emotionally, physically, spiritual, everything. Most people did not make it, but some people somehow found this incredible sense of strength. Strength of attitude, of emotion, and they were not only survive, but to encourage the people around them. Contentment is not about circumstances but about strength. I remember going on a mission trip years ago, where God gave us this scripture; “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” We went up to Malawi in the middle of summer, down south in the lowlands where I though Richards Bay was hot, this was double hot. And it was awful, it was so hot and mosquito infested, and this went wrong, that went wrong. But kept on reminding us, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” And that verse sustained us, and this is the big take home today. Our contentment levels have to do with our strength levels, not our circumstances. And the last point is; where does this strength come from? I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

 Paul discovered the big secret was not about change your circumstance, but rather to find strength in a situation that you did not have before. And when you find strength, you will find contentment. You can do all things through Him who gives us strength. That strength is a gift that Jesus gives through relational depends. As we relationally press into Jesus, it is like we can suck that very strength out of Him. Two examples: Isaiah had an incredible relation with this, it is a well – known scripture in chapter forty verses twenty eight to forty one: “Do you not know? Have you not heard The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” That is contentment. The will soar on wings like eagles. I love it says but the hope in the Lord will renew their strength. That word hope is like the word implies a kind of a binding together, a knitting together.

Those who knit themselves, who wrap themselves around the Lord in hope to renew their strength. I was Indiana Jones, do you remember those old movies, I was watching with Sam the other day, and Indiana was on a crusade to find whatever he was looking for at the time, but they drop him into this whole full of snakes, he lands at the bottom of the hole, and he is making a clearing to keep the snakes at bay, and then they drop the damsel in distress in also. So, she opens her eyes to see snakes all around her and her first inclination is to jump up and jump on his back. That is fine, as long as I am wrapped around you, Mist Indiana Jones, I am fine, I am safe, I am strong. That is the picture here; those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. When we get to that place where we can learn to wrap and weave ourselves around the Lord, in that situation, in our weakness, will renew their strength.

 They will mount up on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary, and walk and not faint. Jesus said it like this, the second example. I love the picture in John chapter fifteen verses four and five: “Remain in Me.” That word ‘remain’ means to dwell, it is to take residence, dwell, remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bare fruit of itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bare fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in and I in him, he will bare much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. Look at the picture of that big vine and we are like the branches but you have to get connected in. You sap off one of those branches, and it has grapes on it, the grapes will stay for a few days, the leaves for a few days, but there is no new life, there is no new fruit, and after a time the leaves will begin to wither and the fruit will begin to dry, because there is no fresh strength. Jesus said, remain in Me, and bind you to Me.

One of my favourite verses, because that very sap that comes to the vine is that precious grace of Jesus, that just flows, that just empowers, that love and His strength. I love what it says in Hebrews chapter four verse sixteen: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that you may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” As we wrap ourselves around the Lord in dependence, His grace we find grace. Sometimes it is through prayer, sometimes it is through singing in worshipping and praising. Sometimes it is through opening His word, sometimes it is spending time with believers. But we find His grace to help us in need; we wrap ourselves around the Lord. We renew our strength, and if our situation does not change, we can be strong. Jesus did not change the circumstances for His disciples in the boat; Jesus did not change the circumstances for Paul and his thorn. But He did calm the storm with a word. His powerful word released grace and strength, and that is the secret of contentment. It is not about changing our circumstances; it is about being renewed and strengthened in the grace of God. Contentment is not about circumstances, contentment is about strength. In Jesus Name.

Outlook Chrrch

Senior Pastor: Brent Brading

Website: Outlook Church