M-G: 4.8.15 // Settled on His Will

What if I told you that God will never move you beyond the “such things as you have” (Heb 13:5, if that’s your dream) until you are content with what you got? What I am suggesting is that you may be “poor,” by worldly standards, because it is God’s will for your life at the present time. Now, I have no idea if you are spiritually ready for a windfall or will ever be ready to experience the “more” or things of this life that everybody desires beyond the basic necessities. His all-knowing or omniscience suggests that God knows our frame and whether or not we can properly handle being well off. The big lie here is that God’s will for all believers is to have more of the things of this world (name it and claim it), and if you don’t your faith is considered small or non-existent by the standards of others.  

There is such a real danger of having more in living in a world where more is not enough (Mk 4:18-19; 8:36; Lk 12:16-21; 18:25; 1 Tim 6:9-10; Jas 4:13-15; 1 Jn 2:15-17). The questions to ask are, “Can I handle riches?” We would all answer yes to that! “Can God trust me with more?” We can again say yes, but we really don’t know God’s answer to this, or maybe we do! How are you doing in your giving back to God, is it consistent and willing?

Here is another question to ponder. Is it worth moving out of His will for more if God has been holding me to less? Are you in one of those situations where you can’t seem to get ahead, but handle money responsibly? “Why, you would have to be crazy to choose to be poor over rich,” reasons the adversary. The truth is; not everyone can handle being rich and could be destroyed by it (cf. 1 Cor 10:13; 1 Tim 6:9-10); Satan doesn’t really care about your welfare. Few believers can be good stewards of riches and remain spiritually healthy by abiding by His will. They have the ability to avoid conflict between God and money (Lk 16:13); for them, money is always subservient to His will. 

There is no way we will ever be given the responsibility of being independently wealthy as long as we continue to struggle with giving to the Lord; that’s a telltale sign if you are wondering. And even if we were faithful givers, there’s no guarantee God will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams; so, we seek the will of Lord Lottery, right?...   

The world would look at contentment as the unambitious drive of a loser, lacking self-motivation, weak-minded, lazy, and going nowhere and having nothing! All I can say about that is how counterculture is biblical contentment! To believe in a biblical viewpoint of being satisfied regardless of the circumstances of life is to acknowledge God’s presence and sovereignty or authority in life, not to mention adding years back to our life from chasing and serving money. How counterintuitive is this to the material mind! How refreshing the thought that there isn’t a nicer vehicle, a larger house, a bigger boat, nicer clothes, or more air miles to accumulate outside the will of God! The best is yet to come, being with Jesus in eternity!

I know this world is not our home, and we are just passing through, but some may say, “Why not ‘pass through’ in style?” This isn’t a problem as long as God is defining the “style.” Godliness, not “goldliness,” is critical (1 Tim 6:7). And who said that contentment was static anyway? It is dynamically driven by the will of God. He determines the conditions or circumstances that come our way. We have learned that He is in control come what may, and He is with us all the way, but that didn't happen overnight!

The truth is that contentment involves less not more? Where does it say in the Bible to be content with your worldly riches? The world’s idea of contentment is a worry-free life of more, but contentment from a biblical perspective is just the opposite, learning contentment in the less for a reason – God’s will. It is true that the sluggard can blame it all on God, using God to hide behind his or her moral failures, but that is not going to cut it with God. A man still reaps what he sows (2 Cor 9:6-7); it’s the law of the harvest.

This all sounds super pious, but it is not really. It’s just good old spiritual truth. In fact, contentment on the practical level can be very challenging living in a culture addicted to materialism, being bombarded daily by every form of media on materialism, friends and neighbors flaunting materialism, and temptations of the flesh to quit struggling and embrace it, to stop being the ugly duckling, blend and buy. Everybody in the world is trying to sell you something by appealing to the flesh and convincing us to turn a want into a need. It’s a 24/7 thing.

Actually, there are many counter-culturalisms in the Scripture. Let me give just a few: to go up we have to go down; to get we have to give away; to live we have to die; before honor is humility; in weakness we are strong; less is more! The way of the world is a never-ending narrative of a lust for power (influence, significance), knowledge, and riches (1 Jn 2:15-16, 17; Jer 9:23, 24).  

The drive or ambition for things that are outside the will of God for a believer will never yield contentment because all is vanity outside the will of God (Eccl 1:14). For a believer it is only a heart that thirsts after God’s will like a panting deer for a water brook that makes us spiritually satisfied and in a position to be blessed of God in any given situation. Blessed, however, does not mean materialism; that’s prosperity Gospel talking. Contentment is something to be learned (Php 4:11); it doesn’t come naturally. “Content” is also translated as “sufficiency” in 2 Cor 9:8. Paul had learned to be satisfied (Rom 8:28). It is ironic so many of us struggle with contentment, and one of our favorite verses we like to quote is Php 4:13.

If you look at the context, Paul was referring to contentment which is being satisfied with the ebb and flow of life because God is sovereign and nothing enters our lives without His orchestration or approval. Look at the previous verse,

“I know in fact how to keep myself low; I know in fact how to have more than enough. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret, both to be satiated and to be hungry, and to have more than enough and to lack. I am strong for all things in the One who constantly infuses strength in me” (Php 4:12-13, Wuest’s translation). 

God is infusing strength into Paul to do His will regardless of the circumstances. Often, we read the tea leaves in the circumstances we find ourselves in and conclude God doesn’t love us any more or that He has abandoned us rather than believing the truth of the Scriptures to the contrary. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:38, 39); He will never leave us (Heb 13:5); and He empowers us to do His will not our will as seen in Php 4:13. 

In fact, the will of God is the most important thing in life for any believer for God’s will is everlasting (Eccl 3:14; Psa 33:11; 1 Jn 2:17). Whether living humbly or in prosperity, poverty or plenty, shortage or overflow, abased or abounding, reeling in the storms or resting in the calm, in joy or sorrow, full or hungry, or up or down, we can do all things through Christ who is strengthening us to do His will which is always according to the Scriptures. Leave the tea leaves for brewing and the Scriptures for believing. 

To be content in any situation, we have to be settled on the importance of His will over our own. Moving forward with less requires the enablement of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16; Eph 5:18). Our heart cannot hide its intent from God. True contentment acknowledges the sovereignty of God in life (Rom 8:28). If it is God’s will for us to be in the sweet or the sour, God has promised never to abandon us, and that perhaps brings the greatest power of contentment over the circumstances of life – His presence is always in our presence (Heb 13:5). Wasn’t David comforted by the Shepherd’s presence?

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me [emphasis mine]; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psa 23:4; cf. Heb 13:6).

We can confidently profess, “I can be content in all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The tense of the verb "strengthens" is in the present, meaning Christ is continually strengthening us to do all things (according to His will). 

The phrase “all things” (Php 4:13) refers to “in whatever state I am” (Php 4:11). Another way to look at it is “in whatever state I am” is God’s will for my life. So being infused with strength “through Christ” only pertains to His will, not Paul’s. If God’s will for Paul is for him to be without or have plenty, Paul had learned to be satisfied with the only true source of contentment (2 Cor 3:5; 9:8; Php 4:19; Mt 6:25-26). We would be very wise to heed the warning of Jesus,

“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Lk 12:15).

Shortly after Paul’s release from Roman imprisonment, he wrote 1 Timothy (62-64 A.D.). Timothy was serving as pastor of the church at Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3). There were false teachers at Ephesus making a living off of religion (1 Tim 6:5). So Paul told Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim 6:6). In other words genuine godliness and being satisfied with one’s personal circumstances are priceless!

The epistle to the Philippians has traditionally been considered to have been written by Paul during his first Roman internment for the Gospel (60-62 A.D.). If Paul was making a killing financially in promoting the Gospel, why was he a prisoner in Rome? Why did he mention the undulations of having and not having if preaching was paying off for him (Php 4:11-12)? What financial remunerations could offset the sufferings he had encountered if Paul was making a living off of peddling Christianity as opposed to Judaism (2 Cor 11:23-28, written 55-56 A.D., cf. Gal 6:17, written 49-50 A.D.)? Paul’s heart was to be pleasing to God not profiting off of Him. His life reflected exactly what God informed Ananias concerning Saul (Paul) of Tarsus (Acts 9:15-16).

Being godly in spite of the circumstances of life and being content in whatever state God decides for you are great indicators that you are settled on His will because both involve being in a lesser state of affairs than others. Read what Paul thought about that (Php 3:8). Naturally, you think you got it bad until you hear or see someone else. And of course, no one envies a rich Christian who loves the Lord. Do we need to read that verse again about “contentment?” If you are feeling spiritually unsettled today, perhaps your lifestyle is not in full agreement with the teaching of Scripture? Maybe you are pushing an envelope that shouldn’t be pushed?

Ungodliness will never produce biblical contentment, and the peace of God is found only in submission to His authority in your life. The real battle may be His will versus your will! Being rich or poor is not unspiritual, but being rich or poor or in the middle outside of God’s will is! The poorest creature on earth is the one outside the will of God no matter how rich he or she may be, poorer than the poor. Holiness, not things, is the key to real happiness (Psa 1:1-3). It’s time to get settled on His will and realize that godliness with contentment is great gain regardless of the circumstances or station in life because He is the Almighty (1 Tim 6:6). <><