There's a well known saying that, "The grass is always greener when you dump lots of manure on it." So true indeed. There's another, lesser known saying that goes something like, "The grass is always greener on the other side." Also very true. In fact, I'm living proof.

When I was in high school, I couldn't wait until college. Then I got to college and realized that spending your weekends writing ten page papers wasn't ranked real high in the fun category, somewhere close to cleaning public restrooms or scraping roadkill off from the highway. So I couldn't wait to get out of college and into the real world, the working world. But then I got a real job working in a real cubicle for a real eight hours a day, wearing a real shirt and tie, and coming home really tired every night. So that wasn't so cool either. But at least I still had the weekends! The corporate vampire could suck the life out of me five days a week, but it couldn't steal the glorious weekend. Saturday and Sunday were mine, all mine!

But weekends never really panned out either. One minute it would Friday night, and approximately thirty seconds later it would be Monday morning, and there I would be, stepping back into my sensory deprivation chamber (a.k.a. cubicle - credit Dilbert for that one). It all seemed so mundane, so "turn your mind into tapioca pudding" boring! I never was content. During the week I wanted the weekends. During the weekends I dreaded the week.

A man named Jim Elliot spoke to people like me. He said, "Wherever you are — be there 100%" Well, that stings a bit. More importantly, scripture spoke to people like me. In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul said, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

God calls us to serve him wholeheartedly in whatever situation he has placed us. That was my big problem. I was at work, but I usually wasn't there with all my heart. I was in high school, but I wanted to be in college. I always was looking for bigger, and better things, rather than simply serving the Lord 100% where he currently had me. I went to class, but I wasn't there 100%.

I want to emulate Jim Elliot, and obey the scriptures, by working heartily for the Lord in whatever circumstances he places me. I want to serve as a husband, and a dad, and pastoral intern, with all my heart. Why? Because ultimately I'm working for the Lord, and I'll receive my reward from the Lord.

What "mundane" circumstances has God placed you in? Mom's, does it seem like all you do all day every day is change diapers and clean up baby vomit? Do it with all your heart, for the Lord! You'll be richly rewarded if you do. College students, does the thought of one more term paper tempt you to hurl your laptop out the window? It shouldn't, if you realize that you are working for the Lord. Throw yourself into your studies. Husbands, are you sick of your job? Remember who you're working for. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is your boss. Your work for him, and he's the one who will reward you.

Lord, teach us to cherish each season of life as a gift from you. Help us to work heartily for you, rather than men. Teach us to glorify you in the mundane!

photo by Kyle and Kelly Adams

• Go to God, your exceeding joy. Psalm 43:4 says, "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy..." God is the source of all joy, deep joy, exceeding joy. When you're tempted to be discontented, run to God, the source of your joy. The temptation in discontentment is to do everything possible to change the circumstances. The single person thinks that being married will satisfy the problem. The person strapped budget thinks that a few extra dollars will fix things. The mom who is weary of caring for her children thinks that a little time off will solve things. But this will never solve the problem. In every circumstance our hearts will find something to be discontent about. The remedy for discontentment is to go to God and find our exceeding joy in Him. Go to God through prayer and plead for the grace of contentment. Go to God through His word and savor the promises of divine joy.
  

• Confess your discontentment to God. As John Piper says, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. When we are discontent, we're not satisfied in God, and thus God is not glorified. God is eager to glorify Himself, which means that He is eager to help you be content in Him. When you feel discontentment rising in your heart, immediately confess it to God as sin and ask Him to freshly satisfy your soul. Pray the prayer of Psalm 119:36, which says, "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!" Apart from God you will never be satisfied, but by His grace you can experience deep, God-honoring joy.

• Fly to the Savior. Friends, discontentment is a serious matter. When I'm discontent, I'm, saying that God is not enough for me. I'm saying that He can't satisfy me, and that the circumstances He has ordained are not good. This is sin of the most wicked kind. But praise be to God, we have a Savior. There is one man who was fully and completely content in God, and that man was Jesus Christ. He was punished in my place, crushed for my discontentment. Christ received the punishment that had my name written on it. How grateful I am for Jesus Christ, the one who secured my pardon and purchased my forgiveness. When you become aware of discontentment, confess it as sin and then fly to Jesus for forgiveness. His blood is powerful enough to make the foulest sinner clean.

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Here are some signs that your heart may be sinfully discontent. I've come up with these simply by taking a look at my own life.

• You're convinced that something other than God will make you truly happy. I've become discontent when I thought that if I only had a certain thing, I would truly be satisfied. Are you longing to be married, or to get promoted, or to have a bigger house, or to graduate from college, to the point where you are discontent with your current circumstances? The content person says, "I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." (Psalm 16:2)
  

• You regularly find yourself grumbling and complaining. When I'm discontent, I grumble and complain. I feel that I deserve better, and that I'm being unfairly treated. In reality, I'm shaking my fist in God's face and saying, "This shouldn't be happening to me." The content person on the other hand, says, "Wherever God leads me is good, blessed be His name."

• You lack thankfulness. When I'm discontent, I'm more aware of what I don't have than what I do have. If I truly understand the gospel, I should be content wherever God leads me. My sins deserve wrath and punishment, yet God has given me mercy. He has poured out blessing after blessing upon me, and calls me His child. Charles Spurgeon said, "I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. Lifting up her hands, she said as a blessing, "What! All this, and Christ too?" Let this attitude be ours as well.

• You don't trust God. Oh how easy it is to forget God in the midst of trying circumstances. How easy it is to forget that we serve a sovereign God who ordains all things that come our way. How quickly we forget, "...that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28) The content man or woman contentedly rests in the sovereignty of God, knowing that He is in control of every time the budget is tight, and every time work gets difficult, and every time it seems like marriage will never come. I need to rest in the the sovereignty of God. Do you?

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The best book ever written on the subject of contentment is "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment:

The way of contentment to a carnal heart is only the removing of the affliction. O that it may be gone! 'No', says a gracious heart, 'God has taught me a way to be content though the affliction itself still continues.' There is a power of grace to turn this affliction into good; it takes away the sting and poison of it.

Of his fullness do we receive grace for grace; there is strength in Christ not only to sanctify and save us, but strength to support us under all our burdens and afflictions, and Christ expects that when we are under any burden, we should act our faith upon him to draw virtue and strength from him.

There is no condition that a godly man or woman can be in, but there is some promise or other in the scripture to help him in that condition. And that is the way of his contentment, to go to the promises, and get from the promise, that which may supply.

A heart that is full of grace and goodness within will bear a great many strokes, and it will never make any noise, but if an empty heart is struck it will make a noise.

Let us run to God today for grace to be content in every circumstance.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Talk about explosive, counter-cultural, life-changing words. In God's presence there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures. Throughout my life, my heart has told me that a change in my life would make me happy. Once I get married then I'll be happy. When I'm done with college I'll be happy. When I get a new job I'll be happy. When I retire, I'll finally be happy. It's one wicked lie after another. The truth is, contentment and joy are found in knowing God and being in His presence. Nothing else will ever satisfy my soul.

Are you believing the lies that your heart is telling you? Do you think that once you get married, or have kids, or send your kids to college, or pay off your mortgage, or get a new job, or have a better relationship with your spouse, that you'll finally be happy? It's a lie. Christ is the King of Joy, the only One that will ever satisfy your soul. If you want joy, spend time with Christ. Read and meditate on His words. Pray and ask Him to satisfy your soul. Repent of your discontentment and come once again to the fountain of joy. Join with me today in fighting the lies of discontentment.

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In Philippians 4:11-12 Paul says:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Notice that Paul said he learned how to be content. He wasn't born with a temperament given to contentment, and he wasn't just an easy guy to please. No, the apostle Paul had to learn the secret of contentment. And how did he learn this secret? By walking through the blistering heat of trials.

Paul learned how to be content when he was brought low. The phrase 'brought low' is a colossal understatement. Paul was beaten to a pulp, stoned and left for dead, whipped until his back was a bloody mess, thrown into filthy prisons, went without eating until his stomach pulsed with pain, and was persecuted wherever he preached the gospel. If anybody knew pain and suffering, it was Paul. And it was in these trials, that Paul learned to be content.

The truth is, we can't learn the glorious secret of divine contentment apart from trials. Trials are the crucible in which contentment is formed. They press us into God and make us desperate for His grace. They strip away our self-sufficiency and cause us to draw near to God for strength. Trials are designed by God to form contentment within us.

What trial are you currently enduring? What area of your life are you tempted to be discontent? Are you in the midst of a difficult job situation? Are you constantly caring for a sick person? Are you barely making it financially? It's through these situations that God wants to teach you the glories of divine contentment.

Oh how sweet it would be to be content in every circumstance! Let's draw near to God today and ask Him to teach us contentment. Let's ask Him to teach us what it means to be peacefully content in every situation of our lives.

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In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul writes:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Friends, do you hear the radical, life-changing implications of these verses? In these words is the secret of contentment in all situations. Paul learned to be content in plenty and in hunger, in abundance and in need. In every situation and circumstance, Paul had learned the secret of contentment.

Where do you struggle to be content? Are you discontent with your current job situation? Are you unhappy at the fact that you're still not married? Is your budget stretched to the limit? Are you discontent due to a difficult trial you're currently enduring? If you're like me, you desperately need contentment.

So what is the secret of contentment? Contentment is not found in a change of circumstances. If you're not content in your current job, you won't be content in a new job. If you're not content as a single person, you won't be content when you're married. According to Paul, the strength to be content is found only in Christ. If you desire contentment, you must be close to Christ. The only way to be content in all circumstances, is to be strengthened by Christ Himself.

How do we receive the strength of contentment? By spending time with Christ through the word of God and through prayer. We simply won't be content if we're not spending regular time in the word of God and regular time in prayer. You won't be content in your job or with your current budget if you're not receiving daily strength from Christ.

So let's begin the pursuit of contentment today. Let's spend time with Christ today, confessing our discontentment and asking for strength to be content in every situation. Let's appeal to Christ, our glorious Savior, for strength to be content. He's eager to strengthen so that we might be content at all times and in all places.

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