What does it mean to be contented?

The profound words found in the hymn, ‘It is well with my soul’, a song written by Horatio Spafford at the height of his financial and professional success, and a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy, offers us a pure contrast to the worldly understanding of what it  means to be contented. “When sorrows like sea billows roll,”... the hymn continues….” It is well with my soul”. It is in the words of His wife Anna that the message is further captured, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."

We live in a world of economic uncertainty, in a generation that puts money and financial security as the epitome of humanity. Our social and economic status and how society sees us matters to us while money or lack of it becomes the reader on the meter of our contentment. Throughout the Scriptures it is evident that our attitude towards money determines our affections towards God. It becomes the mirror of our relationship with the King of kings.

Jeremiah Burroughs -- a Puritan preacher in the 17^th century -- in one of his sermons addressing the subject of contentment from Paul to Philippians (Phil 4:11), argues that contentment is a great art, a spiritual mystery; it is to be learned, and to be learned as a mystery. He calls it a rare Christian jewel. How then do I develop this great virtue by disciplining my desires for wanting more in a society that places possessions at its core of existence?  How can I escape from this dreadful monster?  Richard Foster calls money, sex and power the three most sought after things that need a Christian response. He poses the question as to how we develop ethical living around these issues?

Over centuries, the response to possessions and accumulation of the same which has been considered by many as the root of all human evil has been vigorous and diverse. Early monasticism responded to this issue by renunciations of homeland, wealth, pleasures, marriage and instead instilled in their lives disciplines of fasting, vigils and manual labour. Young says that renunciation meant a vigorous fight against desire and temptation, with a resultant force of detachment from possessions. Later, according to Richard, Puritan response to the same issue was seen in their stress upon industry. They completely rejected the idea of sacred versus secular. They believed that rewards of work were both spiritual and moral because they glorified God and benefited man. This belief in work as stewardship opened a whole idea of what it means to be contented. Borrowing from these two responses what does this mean for you and me today?

O Lord bless our substance. Enable us to use it for thy glory. Help us to keep worldly things in their proper places, and never may our savings endanger the saving of our souls---Charles Spurgeon------Proverbs 30:8b-9