Contentment

There's a song I like about how all believers have this sense that there's something better, something more. We don't have a clear idea of what it is. We know it's good. We know, deep down inside, we are not where we ought to be, not where we are supposed to end up. We talk about Heaven, but we can't really picture it, can't really imagine it. There's a bridge in the song:

And while the thrills are fading
The joy is in the waiting
Somewhere in the grand design
It's good to be unsatisfied
It keeps the faith and hope
a little more alive

And I think that's true ... or is it? Paul wrote, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am" (Php 4:11). So ... we should be satisfied, right? Especially since Paul is Scripture and that song lyric isn't ... right?

And ... I think that it's not that simple. I think both are right. Scripture is full of commands to be ready for His return, to be pushing on to new things (like being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom 12:2)). Revelation says, "Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!" (Rev 16:15). The Bible ends with "Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22:20). We're all looking for that final place. We're commanded to.

Are we looking at a genuine contradiction? I don't think so. Paul's "contentment" was in Christ. Looking for our final home is ... in Christ. It would seem, then, that our real contentment and our future hope are both found in Christ. That's where we are to wait and that's where we are to be content. I believe it's true that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him ... whether it's here or there.