To be content is to be satisfied with and in God. In a day and age when discontentment runs amuck, Christians can truly stand out by simply being content. We struggle with contentment, though. We’re not content with our finances— if only I had more money, then I could buy our dream home. We’re not content with our occupation—if only I worked there then we wouldn’t have any worries. We’re not content with our church—if only my church had a better children’s ministry then we’d be happy.

Lurking around every nook and cranny is the sinful attitude of discontentment. We champion that we are “in the world, but not of the world.” Yet when it comes to contentment, we behave just like the world. We need the power of the Holy Spirit—God himself—to be truly content. First Timothy explains the reasoning why we should be content. “ . . . for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” We were born with nothing and we will die with nothing—so why do we complain of not having things? Godliness with contentment is a great gain.

Contentment in a discontent world makes people turn their heads. It makes us stand out when the norm is to complain. But so many times we are discontent because God says no to our prayers. But just as contentment reveals our satisfaction with God, our discontentment showcases our dissatisfaction with him.

In a culture of discontentment, complaining, and murmuring, God calls us to contentment, to satisfaction, to being happy with where God has us. And why can we be content? Because we have God.

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This devotional was taken from a small excerpt of my new book Taking No for an Answer: How to When God Says No to Our Prayers.