Today is my sons 4 month birthday. Time sure does fly! People have begun asking me if he is a good baby and I say he is wonderful, easy, happy, but I often say he is content. He rarely is fussy and if he is, it is a mild and respectful notice that something isn't quite right and it is easily fixed by a soother and some snuggling. This got me thinking about contentment and my lack of it. I have everything I need and most of what I want and I still find myself easily angered, critical of others and lacking joy. So what is the root of discontentment? Scripture tells us to be content because God will never leave us (Heb 13:5) and that godliness with contentment is great gain (1Tim 6:6). Both of these verses in their respective contexts talk about trusting and believing in Christ as a direct connection to contentment. God has promised he will not leave us and also promised to care for us as his creation and therefore we have nothing to worry about. Jesus makes the connection for us in John 14:1 when he says, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. So contentment or the fix for a troubled heart is found in belief in God and also in Jesus. To answer the original question, the root of discontentment is disbelief in God for his provision for us and in Jesus and his finished work on the cross. I think of Thomas hearing of Jesus rising from the dead and his own struggle with believing. Jesus graciously says to him, look at me! Here, touch my hands, see the wounds in my side, it's me Thomas, it's me! (John 20:24-28).
So as my own son cries and trusts that his own father will hear him and respond, I am being reminded to seek God in my trouble and discontentment, tell him my needs and faithfully wait for his response. In the act of seeking God and believing that he will answer, we find true contentment for our troubled hearts.
Here is a beautiful hymn we sing at church that is based on John 14:1
Calmer of my troubled heart
