I have a friend, Taylor*, who always wants to do the next exciting thing in her life but never seems to be content in the present. When she started high school, she wanted to find a boyfriend. When she found a boyfriend, she wanted to get her driver’s license. When she got her driver’s license, she wanted to get married. I’ve struggled to understand why Taylor always seems so eager to move onto the next thing—until I realized that I’m a lot like her.
The Cycle of Discontentment Can End
We don’t usually mean to keep rushing ahead, but as flawed, short-sighted human beings, it’s easy to focus on the future rather than enjoy the present.
When I started high school, I wanted to take community college classes. When I took community college classes, I wanted to attend a four-year college. When I began attending a four-year college, I wanted to graduate.
But this cycle of discontentment—the cycle of trying to rush from one season of life to the next—doesn’t have to continue. We simply must pause to ask ourselves: What are we rushing to? What are we trying to achieve? Why are we so eager to be in the next season of life?
Personally, I believe that we’re often eager to enter new seasons of life because we’re envying others’ circumstances, rather than finding contentment in our own. After all, we look at those around us to see if we’re measuring up to them. We wonder if we’re walking through life at the same pace as others and often envy those who are “ahead” of us. We feel like we’re missing out if we’re not walking alongside them in every step of life.
But God didn’t create us to be robots. His plans for each of us are unique. And we can find contentment in that.
Looking to Christ for Contentment
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13 NASB)
In the midst of Paul’s trials, he relied on God’s strength. He found contentment in the present through Christ.
Can we, too, learn to be content in every situation, even if those situations aren’t ideal? Maybe they’ll be periods of waiting, loneliness, frustration, anger, fear, or even boredom. To be honest, no season of life will be ideal—not even the season when you find your dream college, dream spouse, dream job, dream home, etc.
But we must learn to say “I’m content” no matter what our circumstances are. Our time on Earth is limited, which makes it so valuable. We can’t waste a single moment wishing we were elsewhere—including the future.
Contentment can’t be found in finding perfect circumstances or getting to the “next big thing” in life. Rather, contentment can only be achieved through Christ who strengthens us (v. 13). He can use every season of our lives—no matter how exciting or boring—for His glory. His plan for your life is perfect and is unique. As you follow that plan, don’t fix your eyes on the lives of others; fix your eyes on Him.
*Name has been changed.
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