Never Content
“I want to potty. I want a cookie. I want to stay up.” “I want, I want, I want!” “Me, me, me, me!” “Mine, mine, mine, mine!” “Now, now, now!” -Captain Hook (Hook, 1991)
Please tell me I’m not the only one who can remember this iconic rant by Dustin Hoffman in the 90’s classic, “Hook.” It was the first thing that came to mind as I thought about the topic of contentment. Captain Hook was trying to convince Peter Pan’s children that they were not loved by their parents because ‘who could love people as selfish as children?’ Maybe you’re chuckling to yourself as you remember this scene, but there was something very sad that I observed as I went searching for that clip on YouTube. I found a good deal of people in the comment section saying - That’s my daughter. That’s my Mom. That’s my ‘fill in the blank.’ But you know what I didn’t see? I didn’t see anyone say, “That’s me.” I don’t suspect we often ask ourselves, “Am I a selfish person?” “Selfish” is kind of a nasty word, isn’t it? We don’t like to describe ourselves that way. In fact, if we’re being honest haven’t you even defended yourself if someone ever accused you of being selfish? We’re so averse to being characterized as selfish that even when we’re obviously acting selfish we deny it. We make excuses. We blame others. We normalize being selfish. And so long as that remains the case, we’ll probably find ourselves lacking joy and contentment.
The writer of Hebrews says, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.” (Heb 13:5) You’ve probably heard this saying if you’ve spent much time with children - “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.” It’s a way of telling kids, “Be thankful and don’t complain.” I wonder if that’s how we view God’s instruction to us sometimes. “Hey! Quiet down and be thankful!” When you first hear this verse from Hebrews perhaps that’s what you hear. And it’s not wrong of God to tell us that. We should be content. We should be thankful for what we have. But our Heavenly Father gives us far better instruction than our earthly parents. The verse goes on and says, “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Now why is he saying this? Well, it’s pretty simple - We’re being told that the cure to selfishness is intimacy with God. God’s promise to the follower of Jesus is that we are forever loved and kept by God. We can never escape Him, as David said in psalm 139 - “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.” God will never leave us. And the thought of His presence, and the practice of His presence is what will keep us from selfishness. The idea is that the more we taste and see the goodness of God, the more contentment we will experience. But on the flip side the less time we spend growing in our relationship with God, the more discontentment we’ll experience. The more covetous thoughts we’ll think.
And so, here’s a question for you - Do you feel discontent? Do you feel a persistent sense of “never enough.” Do you find yourself buying things so you can feel happy? Here’s a tough one for you - Would the people around you know that you are fully content with what God has done for you in your life? Or would they see someone who is generally unhappy and dissatisfied? If you’re not sure, maybe you need to ask your friends and loved ones what they see in you. You see, we can quietly turn into covetous, discontent people if we’re not careful. And God instruction to you and I is - “Seek Me!” When people during Jesus’ day were struggling with discontentment and the fear that sometimes goes along with that He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...” God wants us to find our joy and our satisfaction in Him, not stuff. When we do that we’ll start finding that we really don’t need anything but God.
If you’re struggling with a heart of discontentment, please don’t just hear, “Stop it!” Hear a God that is pleading with you to draw near. And remember this - No matter how selfish you act, God’s promise to His children is, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.” Because Jesus was forsaken on the cross, you and I will never know that kind of separation. Instead we get to hear a loving Father who is reminding us that those who seek Him will find real joy and real contentment.
