Contentment is elusive in this fallen world. People move through life full of regret of the past, anxiety about the future, and dissatisfaction with the present.

Frankly, that’s understandable. Life rarely plays out in alignment with our desires. Or as one “philosopher” from the sixties put it: “You can’t always get what you want.” Yet being unsatisfied with our past or present circumstances is only part of what causes the common lack in contentment.

Pessimism about the future also plays a needed role in our restless discontentment. Seemingly endless wars, spiraling debt, circusy elections, and moral anarchy all conspire together to stamp out any hope for the future. Closer to home the outlook isn’t better: family dysfunction, sickness, aging, and financial concerns constantly threaten to undermine any remaining contentedness in our households.

On top of all that, an unbelieving world searches for contentment in places where it can never be found. Wealth, power, prestige, and temporal pleasure all hold a strong allure, but they only cultivate our thirst for more. They end up becoming the source of more dissatisfaction rather than the solution to it.

The only true contentment comes from living life in reconciled harmony with the sovereign, unchanging God of the universe.

Continue reading.