The Biblical Worldview on Finding Contentment: Controlling Our Mindset

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Hey, I want to hear from you. Would you consider emailing me? You can reach me at gregatharvest.org. Again, that's gregatharvest.org.

And you can also make me one of your friends on Facebook and drop me a comment. You cannot control what comes your way in life. I've tried. But I can control my reaction to it. I can control the way I think.

The Bible tells us the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. But Pastor Greg Laurie says we have the mind of God to help us through. Paul says, I found it. I found the secret to contentment.

And I want to share it with you. The secret of contentment is found in the way a believer thinks. It would seem that it's easy to be content when things are going well, and it's easy to be discontented when life has brought us to our knees. But is our contentment always tied to our circumstances? Pastor Greg Laurie would remind us that some of Paul's most encouraging words were written from a dank, dark prison cell. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg helps us see how to have a spirit of contentment no matter what life throws our way.

It's part of his series called Worldview. So let me begin with a question. How many of you would describe yourself as a happy and content person?

Go ahead and raise your hand. You are happy. You feel you are happy and content.

It's not everybody. I think there is always that thought that well I will be eventually. When this happens I will be content but not quite yet. You know when you are single you are thinking if only I was married I know I would be content. I am so tired of being single.

I am so tired of being in the restaurant and having them say party of one. I want to get married. And then you get married. And you understand the truth of that statement that marriage is a three ring circus. Engagement ring.

Wedding ring. And suffering. So you say well we need kids. If we had children I know I would be content then. Then you have children. And they are still living with you in their 50s and you are thinking how can I get rid of these children. I know. Maybe I just need a new wife or husband.

I need to trade mine in on the new model. And so you get remarried. And then you say oh man my old spouse was better than my new spouse.

I wish I could go back and marry them again. And then you go on a little bit in life and you say oh retirement. It is all about retirement. I know when I am retired I will be content. And then you are retired. And you are thinking, man I miss work.

I need something to do. I wish I could go have my old job back again. See it is always beyond your reach. It is the if only river that separates you and your mind from the good life. If only this.

If only that. Minds you have a story I read about a wealthy employer who once heard one of his employees say to another, If I had $1000 I would be perfectly content. So this man stops, turns around and says, Excuse me. You know I have a lot of money and I have never found contentment for my money.

But I want to meet a perfectly contented person. So here you go. Pulls out his checkbook. Writes it out. $1000. Signs it. This is yours.

And as he walks away he overheard that employee say, Why didn't I ask for $2000? See that is the way we are. That is human nature.

But know this. Getting more stuff will not bring happiness or contentment. There is one psychologist who did a lot of study on what brings contentment and her conclusion was quote, If people shoot for a certain level of affluence thinking it will make them happy they find that upon reaching it they become very quickly habituated and at that point they start hankering for the next level of income, property, or good health. So you know you make thousands but oh if only I were a millionaire. Then you are a millionaire. If only I were a billionaire. I read someone say the other day, A very wealthy person. A billionaire. It won't be long until we meet a trillionaire. So you know it is always beyond your reach.

You are never quite there on your own. Well here is a man who writes this epistle. Philippians.

The apostle Paul who tells us he has found the secret to contentment. Everybody likes to hear a secret. Have you ever been in a restaurant. Maybe your table is close to one next to you and you are not really eavesdropping but you hear a word or two there and then one of the people says to the other, I want to tell you a secret.

Suddenly you lean in. You don't know these people from Adam's house. You want to hear the secret. Then they reveal the secret about someone you have never heard of and you don't care about. But the secret. We love to know the secret. Paul says, I found it.

I found the secret to contentment and I want to share it with you. What is interesting is Paul was in adverse circumstances when he wrote this. He wasn't kicking back on some beach in the Mediterranean eating a falafel. He was under house arrest. He was a prisoner of Rome. He was facing an uncertain future.

He did not know if he would be acquitted or beheaded. Yet in this epistle that he writes to the church of Philippi that we call Philippians he talks a lot about joy, rejoicing, happiness, and contentment. And we ask how is that possible. The answer is found in a word that Paul uses over and over in this epistle and it is the word mind. He uses the word mind ten times. He also uses the word think five times.

Add to that the time he uses the word remember. And you have sixteen references to the mind which brings us to this simple point. The secret of contentment is found in the way a believer thinks.

It is not found in the way a believer feels. Because our emotions fluctuate don't they. You know sometimes everything is going well.

Your health is good. The bills are paid. Everything is going the way you hoped it would go and you find yourself in depression.

And you are saying why am I down in the dumps right now. There is no logic to it so we don't base it on the way that we feel. We base contentment on the way that we think. Which brings us to our text. Philippians chapter 4 and we are reading verses 10 to 13.

Paul writes and he says, "'For I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now and last year care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity, not that I speak in regard to need. For I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content.' Underline that verse. I have learned whatever state I am in to be content. I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need." Verse 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is so important. We didn't know if I had a nicer car. If I had a bigger house. If I had a larger salary.

Or if I had a new face or a new body. Or if I had what that person is eating. Have you ever noticed that when you go to a restaurant you want what the other person has or is this just me? You know when I go out and order I was with a group of people the other day and I said, what are you ordering? And they, oh that sounds good. What do you order?

Oh I might get that. Oh what are you ordering? So then I order whatever thing I order. And then the food arrives and man their food looks so much better than mine. They can tell by the way I am looking at it. I am just staring. Would you like a bite of my food?

Yes I would. Why is it that stolen food always tastes better? You know maybe you are out in a restaurant and you are trying to lose weight so you order a kale salad with tofu and dirt and rocks or whatever you are eating. And your friend orders a big fat juicy cheeseburger with all the fixings and yeah ok that is good. You sir are a glutton.

No I am kidding. You sir are a man after my own heart. That is who you are. So they order that big burger and you are just looking at it and you are saying, could I have maybe one of your fries? And they give you a fry and it is like the most amazing fry you have ever eaten. But then if you notice and if you order fries they are not as good.

Stolen food is better. And by the way let me just say this. I am going to tell you a story.

Something that just happened to me when I was over in Hawaii. But I want to tell you girls something. It is very important for you girls to know this. Guys don't like to share their food.

Ok. Just know that. Guys am I right? So girls you say, no Craig you are wrong. My husband shares his food. I didn't say he won't share it. I said he doesn't like it. We tolerate it.

But we don't like it. We don't like your little forks coming our way. My wife will say, can I have a bite of what you are eating?

I will say, go ahead. And her little fork comes in and first it cuts whatever I am eating. You know a piece of chicken, fish, whatever. And then she dips it here and goes over here and grabs a little and it takes like years. I am just sitting there like I can't get to my food.

This little invading fork is moving around. And then I will be like say eating that burger and I have got the last bite. I love the last bite of the burger. And you are getting ready to eat it. My wife says, can I have a bite? I am just like.

Then I remember love your wife as Christ loves the church. Sure. My hand is shaking.

So anyway just wanted to establish that principle. Guys don't like to share food. Think of a dog eating food out of a dish. That is a man having a meal.

You go and put your hand near the dog and it might get bitten off. Ok. So I am in a restaurant in Hawaii over there with our church Harvest Kumalani. I am with Dave and with Steve.

And they are friends. And so we all order. And so Steve ordered a sandwich. Dave ordered something else. So we are talking and all of a sudden Dave says to Steve, can I have a bite of your sandwich? Kind of different.

I mean. Now if a guy asked me for a bite of my sandwich I would say ok and I would set it down. I would get out my fork and my knife and I would cut him off a piece where he had not eaten the sandwich. And I would put it on a plate and I would give it to him.

Here you go. So he says, Dave says to Steve, can I have a bite of your sandwich? And without pausing Steve says, sure. And takes his sandwich and Dave takes his sandwich out of Steve's hand. Out of his hand.

And he takes a bite where Steve had been eating. I was horrified. And I had stopped everything. I said, wait. Stop everything.

You just traumatized me. They are like, what? Dave is like, good. You know. And then I said, Dave I have got to use that in a sermon. He goes, go for it. And I did.

Just like I did here. But the point is there is something desirable about something someone else has more than what you have. And that is why we need to learn to find real contentment. What do we do if we can't change our circumstances?

How do we find contentment when life is challenging? Well Pastor Greg answers that in just a moment. Pastor Greg Laurie talks about his new book, Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. Billy said to me, I am just a country preacher. He was just a country preacher, but God elevated him. And he had packed events, thousands of young people. And when he spoke, those kids listened.

You could have heard a pin drop. Are you forgiven? Are you sure of it? Are you certain that God has forgiven you? Well that is why Christ died on the cross and that is why he rose again so that you might be forgiven. You say, do you believe in instant salvation? I certainly do. Now is your moment.

Write this instant. Who could have ever thought that that lanky farm boy would go on to be the greatest evangelist in history? So I write about that and a lot more in this new book I have written called Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. Get to know the country preacher who saw millions come to Christ. Let Pastor Greg introduce you to Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. A brand new biography available for your gift of any size at Harvest.org. Well today Pastor Greg is helping us find real contentment. Contentment that transcends what this world has to offer. You know as I said, Paul was in difficult circumstances when he wrote this.

These are not theories from an ivory tower. This is from the school of hard knocks. Paul had experienced pleasure and health and also sickness and weakness. He had highs. He had lows. He was a hero to some.

He was a villain to others. But he learned this. Contentment does not just come because we have conquered our circumstances but rather because we have learned to live with them. Let me say that again. Contentment does not come because we have conquered or changed our circumstances but rather because we have learned to live with them. I heard about a story of a man who was very proud of his perfectly groomed front lawn.

It was flawless. But then a heavy crop of dandelions appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He tried everything he could to get rid of them and had no success so he actually shot up an email to the school of agriculture telling them of all the things that he had tried to get rid of the dandelions and he said, what do I do now? Here was their response. We suggest you learn to love dandelions.

That is how it works sometimes. Lord I want you to take this away. I want you to change it. The Lord says, I suggest you learn to love them. This unruly husband.

Lord I have tried everything. Learn to love him. This wife that won't do what I want her to do. This wife that takes my food constantly from my plate. Oh learn to love her. These kids that were great until they hit the teen years and I don't know what is happening.

Oh yes. Learn to love them. Because life is going to give you those things that you cannot control.

So that brings me to point number one if you are taking notes. Contentment comes when we rejoice in the Lord. Paul found contentment because he rejoiced in the Lord. Verse 4 of Philippians 4 he says, Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

And by the way that is a command as we pointed out in our last message. You are commanded to rejoice. It doesn't say rejoice in circumstances because sometimes it is hard.

But rejoice in the Lord. Studies have actually linked gratitude with a variety of positive effects in one's life. It has been determined that grateful people demonstrate less envy, materialism, and self-centeredness. Gratitude enhances relationships, longevity of life, and even your quality of sleep.

If it came in a pill form gratitude would be a miracle cure. Just learning to be thankful for what you already have instead of what you think will make you happy. So Paul writes in verse 11, I have found in whatever state I am in to be content. Now think about your own life right now.

Can you learn to love what you have instead of what you don't have? Now Paul again is under house arrest. He is in a jail cell instead of having his freedom. He has four walls around him instead of a mission field. Yet he is content.

Which brings us to this point. What you have in Christ is far greater than anything you don't have in life. Let me say that again. What you have in Christ is far greater than anything that you don't have in life. You have Jesus. Therefore you have everything you need for now and eternity. That is important. And Jesus has you. And that makes all the difference in the world.

Now let's not misunderstand this. Paul is not saying that we should necessarily be satisfied with our present spiritual condition. Let me ask you a question. How many of you are happy with where you are at spiritually right now? Raise your hand. No. Someone raise your hand. That is good. My hand is not up. I am not happy with where I am at. What? You are not happy in your relationship with God?

Very happy. But what I am saying is I have a long ways to go. I have a lot to learn. I need to know the Bible much better than I know it. I need to be more Christ-like than I am right now.

I have already shared how selfish I am with food. Now there is so much growth I need in my life and I don't see that as a bad thing. I see that as a good thing. A true mark of growing spiritually is knowing you need to keep growing spiritually. That indicates that you really are in a state of growth. Paul writes in Philippians 3, friends I am not all that I should be. I am focusing all my energies on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God through Christ has called me.

No. We should not be satisfied with where we are at in that sense. But having said that we should find contentment in our relationship with God. But that is not our nature.

Notice Paul says, I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content. Some things have to be taught. Children are not naturally mannerly. They are naturally selfish and inconsiderate and you have to teach a child manners. When I see a naughty child I attribute it to a delinquent parent.

Not doing their job right. Not teaching the child. You don't do that sort of thing. You don't say that sort of thing to someone. That is not acceptable. So in the same way contentment needs to be learned.

It is not natural because I am not naturally content. Take a child. Put them in a room. Give them a toy.

They are relatively happy. Bring in another child with another toy. Friction begins.

Right. Now they are fighting over one toy that they have determined is the best toy. They are pulling on both sides of it.

It could even be a little bunny. Pull it apart if you don't stop them. They want what the other person has. That is human nature.

And we don't necessarily outgrow that. But Paul says, listen I have learned this. I have learned this secret that I want to share with you. The secret of contentment.

Point number two. Paul found contentment because he took life as it came. Paul found contentment because he took life as it came. Look at verse 12. I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. Here is another translation.

Just listen to this. Actually I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I have learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I am happy with little as much as I am happy with much. Or with much as I am with little. I found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry.

Hands full or hands empty. You cannot control what comes your way in life. I have tried.

It doesn't work. But I can control my reaction to it. I can control the way I think.

I can control my attitude. That is why you learn this. You learn how to be content.

Which brings me to point number three. Contentment does not come from what I have. It comes from who I know. Contentment does not come from what I have.

It comes from who I know. Hebrews 13 5 says, Let your way of life be without covetousness. The word covet means a greedy desire to have more. No matter what it costs you or someone else. It is from a word that can be translated to pant. To pant.

Like an animal pursuing its prey. Let your life be without covetousness. But then he goes on to say, But be content with such things as you have.

For he has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. See because Christ will never leave me, I can be content. It is not about what I have. It is about who has me. It is about this relationship I have with God that can bring the ultimate contentment.

That is why David wrote in Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. You know when the Lord your shepherd, you can find this perfect contentment. Contentment is found in making the most of the least. And so Paul had found this contentment in his relationship with God.

Great insight today here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie is showing us the Bible's prescription for finding contentment, no matter what's going on in our lives. And there's more to come as Pastor Greg continues this study. It's called The Biblical Worldview on Finding Contentment. Now hopefully you caught every word of today's presentation, but if you didn't, you can hear what you missed by going online to our website, harvest.org. Just look for that message, The Biblical Worldview on Finding Contentment. Well Pastor Greg, I just read your book, Billy Graham, The Man I Knew.

It's brand new. One of the stories you tell in there, I thought maybe you could recount it for our listeners. Describe the time you got a phone call late one night from Dennis Haggagianian, doing his imitation of Billy Graham. Right, well Dennis and I have been friends for years.

Dennis is a musician, amazing guitar player, and a friend of Franklin Graham, and worked with the Billy Graham team for years as well. So I was back in North Carolina at a Billy Graham board meeting, and so we had dinner that night. And I said to Billy, Billy if there's anything I can do for you, preparing sermons or whatever, let me know what you need and I'll work on it. Billy said okay, thank you.

Then I went back to my room that night and I got a call, it's late, like 10 o'clock. So that was Dennis, he would always call and say how did it go tonight, how was Billy doing? And so he called and he did an amazing Billy Graham imitation and so Dennis calls and he says hello, Greg, this is Billy Graham.

And I was thinking about what you said to me tonight. I know it's not Billy, so I'm like actually watching TV and I'm flipping the channels, you know, like you do. I'm flipping the channels and he said right, right. And I think, and whatever he was saying, I'm saying uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah, whatever, Billy. You know, just, because I know it's Dennis, I'm waiting for him to say Greg, it's Dennis. And he goes on and then Dennis says, and I was thinking about what you said tonight and I'd like your help. And then I thought for a moment, wait, I didn't tell Dennis I said that to Billy, then it done to me, this is Billy Graham.

And I'm blowing him off, right. Oh, I said, oh, excuse me, Billy, yes, how can I help you? And I realized that I was like ignoring Billy Graham, which is kind of a crazy thing, but that's exactly what I was doing.

You know, another funny thing that happened, you know, Franklin is quite the prankster. So I had a photo of Billy that I had printed out and I got one of those cool like silver metallic pens because I wanted him to sign it. So I took it back when I was gonna see him and Billy very graciously signed it and I rolled it up in one of those tubes, you know, and I had it in my hotel room. And as it turns out, the maid picked up the tube thinking it was trash and threw it in the dumpster.

I just about had a heart attack. I went and found the dumpster, clawed my way through it, found it, put it back in my room. So then Franklin says, come on up to Daddy's room. You know, so I go up there and there's Billy and Franklin and then Franklin says, Daddy, you know that picture you signed of yourself and gave to Greg?

And Billy says, yes. Franklin says, Greg threw it away. And I said, no, I didn't throw it away. The maid threw it away. The maid threw it away, no, Daddy, he threw it away. Billy's kind of smiling and I thought to myself, they're in this together.

They're working together, right? I realized, I just took the, I said, look, I didn't throw it away. I went and found it and I explained it and we all had a laugh, but you know, he was just a great guy to be around and he took his message very seriously but he never took himself too seriously and it was always just a joy to be with him and there were so many memorable conversations and moments that are with me forever. And I wanted to put him down on this book so other people could hear these stories because this humanizes him. And what I mean by that is there's been many books written about Billy, but sometimes they're maybe a little more academically oriented or they're giving you his complete history. I did not feel the need to write that book.

It's been written. This is a personal book. I'm talking about my interaction with him, what I saw and I am an evangelist and Billy was the master evangelist so it's an evangelist writing about an evangelist. There's a lot of insights here for everyone but I think this would be a really helpful book for anyone who loves to preach. If you're a pastor, if you're an evangelist, there's a lot of takeaway truths I learned from Billy and I share in this book that will help you to be a better communicator of the gospel. Yeah, it's such a great resource. There's so much about Billy Graham very few of us know, only those who knew him best and that's why the book is called Billy Graham, The Man I Knew.

It's a unique look into one of our generation's true heroes of the faith. The book is brand new and we'll send you a copy to say thank you for your investment in these daily studies. We can only bring them your way as listeners invest to help cover the costs of broadcasting so thanks for your partnership.

It couldn't come at a more strategic time. Write us today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. And time is running out.

We can only mention this a short while longer so get in touch right away. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here, personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study, it's a worship service, it's church in your home.

Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so, join us for Harvest at Home. People are listening in from around the world and listen to this, we have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well next time, more great biblical insight on finding contentment in a frustrating world. Hope you'll tune in next time for A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.