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Day 16 - 21 Days of "Plenty Too Much"

Writer's picture: Dale WalkerDale Walker
PLENTY TOO MUCH CONTENTMENT

Perhaps the one word that most describes a PTM attitude is the word contentment.

In Philippians 4:11-12 Paul tells us that he has learned the secret of being content in every situation.  The word has two primary meanings: satisfied and sufficient.  It is the ability to find plenty too much joy in the present regardless of what is happening around me and the ability to find in Christ the adequacy and ability to face the challenge of that situation like a champion.

The word contentment doesn’t mean we are settling or somehow passively resigning to the possibilities of negative things happening beyond our control.  Instead of resigning we are actually seizing the promises of God and relying on the Spirit of God to be able to reign in that moment for Jesus.  Paul did that in prison by rejoicing, witnessing, and seizing the opportunities God showed him to be and do plenty too much for Jesus.  Paul led some of the most influential guards in the Roman army to Jesus and wrote several of the books of the New Testament while in prison.  He didn’t just shelter down in prison and hope for better days.  What a challenge this is for us in this present Corona crisis.

How do we learn to be content?

First we have to learn that contentment is not a condition or position it is a disposition.  It is a choice of faith to adjust our attitude to the plenty too much that God is not the plenty too bad that our circumstances might be.  Sunday, I put up two tents on the stage and called one of the them “content” and the other “discontent.” I told the church every one of us is choosing today to live in one of those two tents.  Which tent we live in will determine our destiny.  The children of Israel in the wilderness chose discontent and died in the wilderness without reaching their destiny.  Paul chose content and was the leading vessel to reaching the world in his generation.

I think choosing content first of all means deciding to believe that God has provided everything I need in this moment for my present happiness and joy and the capacity to be fully satisfied in him.  If we believe that it instantly can help us shift our attitude to receive God’s joy.

I was stuck behind cars in traffic recently.  People were driving in rude ways and I was feeling exasperated and frustrated and definitely discontent.  Suddenly that thought came to my mind.  Jesus has provided everything I need for my present happiness.  I began to declare that and rejoice in the Lord giving thanks for everything I could think of.  My heart immediately began to shift, the atmosphere in my car changed and I made it to work ready to have a productive day.  In the meantime the rude drivers got prayed for and who knows how God has touched their lives as a result.




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