SEEKING GOD AND CONTENTMENT

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”….Matthew 6:33

This statement comes on the heels of Jesus telling the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount to not worry about what they will eat, drink, or wear.  He said the Lord knows they have need of these things, but if they will seek HIM first, then all these things (our needs) will be given to them.

Every one of us are seekers.  Some seek after worldly wisdom and knowledge, some seek after fame and fortune, while others seek for love and companionship, but in their quest for these things (desires, not needs), they fail to seek after God.  God should be our priority while everything else is secondary.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  These “desires” don’t mean He will give us what we desire like a genie granting us three wishes, but He will put His desires into our hearts.  In other words, we will begin to desire what He does.

Now, those desires I mentioned earlier, wisdom and knowledge, fame and fortune, and love and companionship, there’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but WHY do we desire them?

Wisdom and knowledge can become a point of pride in a lot of people.  God wants ALL His people to grow in wisdom and knowledge because it’s vital to our spiritual growth.  In fact, Proverbs 16:16 says that wisdom is better than gold.  But we don’t want to be puffed up with pride because of what we know.

Fame and fortune aren’t necessarily evil because there are many Christians who are well-known and have wealth.  It’s how they handle those things that are key.  Are they seeking fame for attention and popularity?  Do they like to flaunt their wealth for others to see?  God can and does bless people with fame and wealth, but they don’t use those things in a way to lift themselves up.  They have learned to be good stewards of what God has given them to help further His kingdom.

What about love and companionship?  Most everyone desires love and companionship whether through friendships or finding their life-long soulmate.  But how can we love another person if we haven’t first learned love from God?  How can we have a successful relationship with someone who is to be our potential spouse if we don’t know to how love them properly?

What if, in the process of making God our priority, we find our desires have changed?  What if we no longer desire fame and fortune?  What if we realize we don’t need to seek love and companionship to be happy?  What if we find true contentment with our life as it is because we find out He’s all we need?

Contentment has been something I’ve had to learn in the past several years.  I remember growing up thinking of all the things I wanted when I got older, and those things didn’t materialize, but in learning about God’s sovereignty, I also learned that by seeking Him (and I haven’t been perfect in that area), many times what I wanted wasn’t what I needed.  God knows what I need and I have to trust Him to give it to me.  And there are times when what I want is what God will give me…..in HIS time.