Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Do you love where you are in life? Do you love your job, house, family, and life?

Would you change anything?

If we’re honest, most of us would change some things. But is that right? Should we be content with what we have, with where we are?

If we were sitting together over coffee, you would ask me if that is settling.

It can be, but my guess is it isn’t.

It is learning to be content.

If you are anything like me, you struggle with being content.

I always want more. Not in a prideful way, although that sometimes happens, in an “I know I could have more, I know I could be more” way.

Recently, I was talking with a pastor who wanted to start a church, to step out and be a lead pastor. But every door he tried to walk through kept closing on him. He asked me, “How do I learn to be content with where I am?” We all wrestle with this question at some point as we wait for something to happen, for something to change, and for our dream to finally come true. 

Over the years, I’ve had many moments where I was waiting for my chance and then moments wondering if I missed my chance. In between, we seem to live and get through it. 

I remember a mentor telling me years ago, “In your 20’s, you are growing and trying to move into adulthood. Once you start to move past 40 and into your 50s, if you aren’t careful, this can lead to burnout and disillusionment because the goals you had never panned out. The dreams you were sure you’d hit have fallen by the wayside.”

I looked at that pastor and asked him a question. At first, it’s a question you might bristle at; I know I have when I’m not where I want to be, and he did that day as well. 

But hear me out. 

What if the life you have right now (the house, the family, the career, the finances) is precisely the place God has you?

Depending on your perspective, that might be depressing, but it isn’t meant to be.

You see, one of the reasons we aren’t able to move forward or move on to something is because we haven’t learned all that God has for us where we are. We become so consumed with what’s next that we don’t live in what we have. We don’t learn all we can where we are. We aren’t faithful with what we have; we always want the next thing.

But we often get stuck because we are so focused on what we don’t have that we miss what we do have.

The people who live life to the fullest are the ones who are filled with the most joy.

Do you know where that joy comes from?

Yes, the answer is Jesus.

But to give that more of a specific answer, it is contentment.

Paul says this in Philippians 4:

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

It is the key to joy.

What would ‘be content with where you are’ mean for you? What would being content, enjoying the life stage you’re in, mean? Not longing for the next thing or looking back at what you had, but being content. Here. Now.