Content With Your Content?

“…I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” ~ Philippians 4:11-12

The use of antidepressant drugs in the U.S. doubled between 1996 and 2005 (WebMD Health News - August 3, 2009, Kathleen Doheny). "According to a government study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches" (CDC: Antidepressants most prescribed drugs in U.S. - July 09, 2007|By Elizabeth Cohen CNN].

Dr. Ronald Dworkin, an anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute wrote in his book "Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class" that "doctors are now medicating unhappiness." Dr. Dworkin adds: "Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives." 

Much "depression" is nothing more than unhappiness and sadness. Much of what is treated as clinical depression is simply lack of joy. While many individuals may have a truly legitimate, medical reason for taking an antidepressant, my tingling spider sense tells me that's simply not the case for the great majority of users. My guess is that too many are medicating instead of dealing with the real problem. My hunch is that people are not so much medically depressed as they are simply discontent with life. 

There are few things more human than wanting fulfillment. Within each of us exists a desperate desire for satisfaction. Every fiber of our being longs for gratification. There is a deep-seated angst which drives our every attempt to find contentment. 

"Depression" and the use of antidepressants are on the rise because people are searching for happiness in the wrong things. They are expecting to find joy through career advancement, wealth accumulation, sexual relationships, recreational drugs, binge drinking, mindless entertainment (i.e. gambling, video games, porn), retail therapy, attainment of fame, etc. In other words they are seeking to become content in life by filling their lives with the wrong content. It's the wrong content because those things can only leave a person wanting. They are not the means to contentment. In fact, the more a person seeks to become content through the wrong content the more they slip into despair. And it is in desperation that so many turn toward self-medicating, not so much as a cure but simply as a means to mask their angst. 

Fortunately, there is an antidote for unhappiness. There is a remedy for sadness. There is a cure for lack of joy. It does not come in the form of a pill. It comes in the form of a servant-the Son of God who came to serve us that we may enjoy the immeasurable riches of God's glorious grace. Jesus is the right content. 

The reason Paul was able to write the words of Philippians 4:11-12 is because Jesus was THE content of his life. Paul agreed with Psalm 16:2 - "You are my LORD; I have no good besides You." Jesus was Paul's good so it didn't matter to Paul if he went through times of hunger and need or through times of plenty and abundance. Jesus was Paul's satisfaction, fulfillment, and gratification. As a result, Paul had no need to pursue the things of the world. He had everything he needed and wanted-a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The secret of being content in life is making Jesus the content of your life. I pray Jesus Christ become the content of your life so that you may be content in Jesus Christ.

Ina awe of Jesus,
Pastor Rick