Devotionals

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Last week, we mentioned “felt needs,” which we often confuse with real needs. Not having what we want = discontentment = unhappiness. God promises to meet our real needs (Matthew 6:33). The Apostle Paul knew the secret to happiness: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12). “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:8). His philosophy? Be satisfied with what you have and be thankful. Read Psalm 146:
1Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
2I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.
4When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
7He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
8the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
9The LORD watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10The LORD reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.
The Psalmist had the proper focus. He knew that mortal men were unreliable sources of contentment. His trust was in God, Who is the supplier of all good things. In the New Testament, James, the half-brother of Jesus, reminds us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Just about everything we have comes from some-one or somewhere outside of our selves, and that someone or somewhere gets it ultimately from our Creator God.
Our loving Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. Jesus gave these words of comfort to his disciples: "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). In other words, if we, in our fallen state, desire and strive to care for our children, how much more can and does God care for His children!
In a previous lesson, we sought to distinguish between “happiness” and “joy.” Happiness is related to temporal circumstances, whereas joy is based on eternal hope. Therefore, happiness can come and go, based on changing fortunes and our own expectations. Joy, however, comes to stay. As Jesus predicted his coming crucifixion and resurrection, he set his disciples’ eyes on the goal with an apt illustration and a promise: “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:21, 22).
The path to contentment begins at the cross. The first step meets the first need: “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:25, 26).

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