An online poll conducted in 2013 of U.S. Adults in regards to contentment and life satisfaction concluded that only 33% of Americans were very happy. Naturally our instincts would point to the current economic conditions where joblessness and homelessness is becoming more prevalent, the increasing incidence of failing health, international turmoil, and other causes. The collective worldview is that material prosperity equates to happiness, but according to a publication in the New Scientist, where it surveyed the level of happiness in 65 nations, it concluded that the most satisfied people are in Puerto Rico and Mexico and the most optimistic people are in Nigeria and Mexico. What? How can this be?
Let’s look at what Paul says in Philippians 4:11, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” We can conclude from this verse that Paul LEARNED to be content despite his circumstances. Learning to be content was not a state of being, but a state of mind. Therefore, you can be content no matter what the situation and you shouldn’t let every situation control you. The key word, learned, means that it won’t come naturally or it won’t be automatic, but it will take effort just like any other learned skill, such as riding a bicycle.
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Living for God means you will face tribulations and persecution. You can’t control all your circumstances and situations that go on in the outside world, but you can control the way you react to them and what goes on in the inside of you.
The root cause of a lot of discontentment lies in being self-centered, and this is the biggest obstacle that leads to many people being hopeless and discontent. You will never be able to satisfy self and find fulfillment with what the world offers. Solomon, the wealthiest man in the history of the world, had this to say, “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). When we die to self and learn to love God and others more than ourselves, we have unlocked the secret to happiness.
Therefore, let us not let circumstances dictate and shape us because we have the ability through Christ to change our situation. Satan will make you doubt who you are, what you are, and your authority – causing you to look to other things for fulfillment, but our fulfillment lies in Christ and not in circumstances. When we place our problems in perspective to eternity and God, they seem miniscule and very temporal. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). AMEN!
BY: Vinnit Oommen