The Only Constant

Contentment and discontentment are not based on our circumstances. We choose one or the other, completely based on our own state of mind, our own attitude.

When the Israelites were in Egypt, enduring horrible enslavement and persecution, they cried out for God to save them. After God saved them, they were trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptians and wished they were back in Egypt, where they would at least be alive. Once God parted the Red Sea for them, they started complaining about hunger, missing the food they had in Egypt. God started giving them manna every day, but they got tired of it and longed for the meat they had in Egypt. The story continues like that, basically for the whole Old Testament.

As easy as it is to see and be annoyed by the Israelites' discontentment and poor memory of God's goodness, it's difficult for us to see that we are those Israelites.

We treat God like a vending machine: he should give us everything we want, and he should give it when, where, and how we specify. We ask for one thing after another after another, thinking that each new thing will satisfy us. And when every one lets us down, every time, we blame it on the one who provided the blessing in the first place. We have it all backwards! When worldly things fail us, why do we blame that which is not of this world? God gave it, but who asked for it?

Even more importantly, when will we realize that no amount of earthly blessings, even if they are God-given, can compare to God himself? When he blesses us with earthly things, when he answers our prayers, he doesn't give these things to fill us. He gives them because he is a loving Father who likes to give his children good gifts. It is our perversion, our lack of heavenly-mindedness, that makes us cling to what is finite, railing against what is infinitely good and infinitely loving and infinitely satisfying.

He is the only satisfaction. In him is the only end of our endless cravings.

When we were in our own Egypt, slaves to our sins, we cried for God to rescue us, and he did. But we still look for any opportunity to complain, to say that God isn't good or fair or loving. We even look back longingly on our former enslavement. We magnify the few positive things about our Egypt, while minimizing entirely what made us cry out for help. And at the same time, we magnify the negatives of our current situation, minimizing the blessings of God's provision and salvation. We are the inconsistent ones. We cause our own distress by choosing to see things this way. God is constant through all of our inconsistencies.

"If we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself." 
2 Timothy 2:13

They're building a Mormon church in my town. Most of the Christians I know around here are upset, angry, and worried by it. Why, though? Why is it such a shock to us that there are people of other religions out there, doing the exact same things that we are to gain followers?

I'll tell you why: it's because of where we are. The "Bible Belt." The land where a church stands on just about every corner and there's not just a First Baptist Church but also a Second and maybe even a Third. It seems that we've forgotten about the world outside of our stained glass walls. And I'm not just talking about the nations. I'm talking about our nation. Our cities. Our neighbors. We think because there's so many churches there has to be a proportionate amount of Christians, but that simply isn't the case.

When we think about having a heart for the nations, it's almost easier for us to make that mean anywhere but where we are now. We talk about going places where we could be killed or imprisoned for our faith but we aren't willing to go next door and share the gospel with our neighbors. We can't be bothered to show kindness to the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses that knock on our doors. Are they less lost? Are they less broken and sinful? Are they not God's creation, worthy of love and compassion?

Our hearts break so easily for those so conveniently out of our reach.

As Christians, our mission field is our lives. I'm not saying that being a career missionary is required for Christians; I'm saying that we are called to be missionaries in whatever career, country, town, school, and life in which God has placed us. The calling on our lives is to be used by God in furthering his kingdom. Who are we to dictate what that looks like or where it happens? And who are we to turn down the opportunities that he puts in our lives for that very purpose?

"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!" Psalm 96:3