Depending on the season we are in, there might be all kinds of reasons why we could be drawn away from contentment in Jesus. But it seems, ironically, that the greater danger of that happening actually comes during seasons of prosperity. We find far more warnings in the Bible about the dangers of money and comfort than the dangers of difficulty and want.
Life has an ebb and flow to it, doesn’t it? The writer of Ecclesiastes was right, that there is a time under heaven for everything. A time to live, and a time to die. A time to tear down and a time to heal. A time to laugh and a time to cry.
Paul said much of the same thing as he thought about the secret of contentment:
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 (Phil. 4:11-13).
Paul walked through different seasons, and yet had learned the secret of contentment in them all. Whether he was in a season of plenty or a season of want, he ultimately found his satisfaction in Christ alone. Circumstances change, but Jesus never does.
Depending on the season we are in, there might be all kinds of reasons why we could be drawn away from contentment in Jesus. But it seems, ironically, that the greater danger of that happening actually comes during seasons of prosperity. We find far more warnings in the Bible about the dangers of money and comfort than the dangers of difficulty and want. Perhaps that’s because there are no atheists in foxholes; that is, when we are knocked flat by life, we are much more aware of our own frailty and more willing to humbly turn to the Lord.
If that’s true, then, we should actually look with wariness on seasons of prosperity. If we find ourselves in a season of plenty, we should walk carefully, on our guard. The Lord articulated this clearly for His people as He was bringing them into the new land, the land He promised to Abraham. We find those warnings in Deuteronomy 8:
