The Bible is big on contentment.
Having food and raiment, we are to be content.
Well, it seems we are all failing at this one. I don’t know a soul that isn’t interested in picking up something new.
There is something in us that seeks to improve our condition. Actually, when we think about it, God told Adam that his job was to improve his situation. He was placed in a garden and told to tend it and keep it. All things were put under his hand. It only seems natural for man to want to move forward and better himself.
We know that God would never command one thing and then give us a desire that is contrary. We also know that God would never command something and then not give us the ability to fulfill the command. If He commands contentedness and improvement, we must be able to do both.
Why does God insist on our contentedness? It is what’s best for us. It is what’s best for our joy, happiness and personal fulfillment. Discontentment comes from a lack of gratitude and ungrateful people are unhappy people. They are also sinning in their lack of gratitude for what our good God is doing for them. Sin brings conviction and no one wants to live under a cloud of conviction.
Why does He want us to improve our situation? We need something to do. Idle hands create problems. Busy hands create solutions. God is a creator and we are made in His image. We are born to create and cultivate. Satan is the destroyer. We are to build.
Back to our original question, how can we reconcile contentment and ambition?
Be content first.
Many times, we have the mind that the next achievement or acquisition will make us content. So we discontentedly work and work until we achieve what we sought, thinking that we will find contentment upon completion. That might work except that the eye of man is never satisfied. Once a goal is completed, a new one grows in its place.
Waiting to be content until you’re satisfied is an exercise in futility. You have to start with contentment. Believing that if nothing ever changed for you, you could still be grateful and have joy.
Once you are content, then you look to make improvements and the desire to improve is a good desire.
Let’s illustrate with baseball. The first game you play, you are not going to be great. You probably aren’t even going to be good. You may drop the ball as a fielder and strike out every at bat, but you’re in the game. You can appreciate the sunshine and blue sky. The smell of the freshly cut field and the ability to run the bases doesn’t escape you. You’re grateful to be playing, but also have a desire to improve. You will work hard and be disciplined to gain skills and knowledge. But you’re going to enjoy the journey along the way, not be discontented until you reach your destination.
Deciding to be content while working to improve is not admitting failure. It’s choosing to be happy while working instead of waiting until payday to smile.
Joel Stiff's Adventure 