Content with our lot ?
 

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

You are right and your friend is complacent or just lazy.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I believe if one has any desires in life he will seek to excel whether it is Work, Family, or Ministry.

I repeat it again, one can be content & not be satisfied!

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

IMO when you fall into complacency, it becomes a trap to you. It's almost like living from paycheck to paycheck... you get by but it wears you out and is stressful... I believe God wants us to be prosperous in all we do! Not necessarily speaking in $$ terms either. One of the reasons people do not strive for success is the fear.... Sometimes it's the fear of failure and sometimes it is the fear of success... We should strive for perfection in what we do.... When we don't, we aren't giving 100%. I like to strive for perfection in my walk with God, parenting, relationships, jobs.... just about everything... I fall short many many times, but that doesn't mean failure!

Some just don't want to put any effort into things either....
...... I think for me, it's more of a mindset than anything else...

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I agree with your friend. I firmly believe that if we truly depend on God and rest in him he will do a great work in us. Does that mean we should sit on our butts and do nothing? No, but if we will just understand that God has a purpose for our life that has already been prepared in advance we can rest in him. Once we learn to rest and find our fulfillment in Christ alone will we ever be able to reach our full potential.

To strive for perfection comes from insecurities and our own selfish motives. When we rest in God then his will becomes our will and we will attain more perfection than we ever could have ever imagined.

Hebrews 4:6-11 (New International Version)

6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts."[d] 8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Delta - I agree with what you are saying, however sometimes people SIT and wait on God when all the time God is waiting on them.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Wow... haven't there been a few broad brushed statements about people who think differently than others.

I am a tested genius and yet I have never attended college above a few night courses on computers in the 80's.

I am not complacent... I am not lazy...

I simply have no interested in some of the things that some people see as success in life.

The things that I see as success are the things that others have no interest in.

Would I do well to accuse them of being short sighted... or materialistic... or any other number of adjectives I could derive to describe those who think differently than me?

I have everything it takes to be the college educated highly successful individual. But these are not my desires. I love the land and a simple life and it isn't a lack of drive that puts me here. It is my drive to fulfill the things that I find to be important and worthwhile that has gotten me where I am today.

I am happy. I am content. Complacency is not a given when those things are in place in a persons life.

EVERYBODY works to be successful in this life. Some of us just define success differently than others.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Right, this is very common is Pentecostal/Word of Faith/Prosperity Gospel churches. People want magic and they want God to zap them and fix all their issues. It just doesn't work that way.

I am talking more about our labor and works for God. We think we are going so much for God many times when all we are going is what WE want to do. Many times the work that God has for us there will be no boasting or credit but only glory for Him.

I do not believe in being lazy and I assure you I understand lazy folks.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

This is actually something that I have a hard time with. On one hand I am constantly told or reminded of the parable of the rich man (you know the one who wanted "bigger barns"), which seems to contradict the command to "whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your/their might".

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

The Bible tells us that Christ came to give us life...and life more abundantly. The Bible tells us to be good stewards of time and money which will lead to a better circumstance in life. It tell us to pray for wisdom and knowledge and understanding. It tells us a man/woman must work to eat.

I think the lazy man will be content with living off others or the system.

Paul was taking about being content in the situations that you find yourself in that have nothing to do with your bad judgement/decision making, but all about content with God's will as it unfolds in your life.

Blessings, Rhoni

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I don't think God sits and waits.

Why would the one who knows the end from the beginning sit and wait when he knows the moment that they will move?

The sitting and waiting... even if it be for reasons other than actual need... is all part of the learning process and it all contributes to our growth.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

What is the motive for the bigger barns, to get rich & fat, or to give & minister to others?

Motive plays a big part I believe!

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Sure he can. Sometimes he wants US to make the first move. He's always there willing to help and supply for us, but we have to make that first move.

There are times we are suppose to wait, but it's not waiting on God usually - it's waiting until WE are at the place we need to be to receive what we need.

Does that make sense?

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Exactly... and it makes perfect sense...

It shows a picture of a God waiting (and participating in) the personal growth necessary to bring them to a place where they are ready to move in what he has called them to do.

That is not what I got out of the first post.

The post I initially responded too seemed to paint the person as lazy while God waited on them to get off their duff.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

D4T - didn't mean to broadbrush - I was just responding to this one quote from his friend.

The Bible teaches to be content with your lot in life. It never mentions, to my knowledge, that you should try to excel in this world.

I disagree that the Bible teaches to be content with your "lot in life" or that you shouldn't excel in this world. A child might be born into an alcoholic home - that's their lot in life, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't strive to do better than their parents.

See what I mean?

I don't believe the Bible means at all that anyone should be content with their "lot in life".......we can always do better. When I read what the friend wrote it just sounded to me like they were making excuses for not doing more. God will always provide, but he has given us tools, strengths, etc. to do always do better.

That kind of attitude is prominent in churches of "our 40 and no more."

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I don't equate the desire to live well with being "fat" -rich maybe, but not fat and lazy (I added the 'lazy' part).

People tend to get rich because of the effort they put into their work -not strictly for the desire to be rich. Granted, many get rich for that reason, but most find themselves in that position as a by product of a successful career.

But.... even a career can be equated to "treasures", which brings me back to my original dilemma. Are we building or desiring bigger barns or do we "do with all our might" whatever our hands find to do?

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Indeed... The issue I am having with many of the responses in this thread and that some are judging another's lot in this life. (I am not commenting on your post here.... just using it to make a point)

If one seeks to have the ambitious position at a big company in a high rise... then that is their lot in life... IMO.

If one seeks to live a simple life with a simple job then that is their lot in life.

For either one to judge the other as less legitimate as the other is wrong. We should all be able to live our dreams and be content in that pursuit.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Outstanding. Some day I hope to be just like you.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Are the blessings of God spiritual only ? Does God not bless us in our lives, jobs, relationships, etc. ?

This is kinda retrospective but, I have posted a comment before about just living in and with what you need and giving the rest. Seems the defenders of having a 3 bedroom home when only a 2 was neccasary come out of the woodworks.

Can anyone show me scripture supporting or not my desire to move from Foreman to Supervisor in my job ? Is there scripture that says I should remain a Foreman ? Should I turn down the promotion if offered ?

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Bam!!! You have it. I agree 100%. God prepared everything from the beginning. I honestly think God wishes we would sit back and rest and be content in Him.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I understand what you are saying and I was guilty of "reading into" that friend's meaning of "lot in life" - - the way it's worded just sounded like he was settling.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

This is a great discussion. Think about it, should I settle for what God has for me or should I go out there and get what I want. I think there is an amazing freedom in knowing that God is always supreme and all knowing and working in our lives.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

On the same vein of thought - is your "lot in life" what God has for you or should you be seeking to do better so that God can do more for you and through you?

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I honestly think that if we live our lives in obedience to God we will do so much better than someone who is striving for excellence only.

The obedience will help with our personal issues and motives that cloud our judgment and keep us from our potential. Only after we have allowed God to work in our lives can we strive in a more perfect way.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I agree.

I think I'm struggling with the words "lot in life" - - - know what I mean? It leaves a negative connotation in my mind. "Well, it's just my lot in life to__________" Maybe it's not what the friend was meaning at all.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Some good stuff here, I have replied using most all responses here. The conclusion I am coming to is that we do have a God given lot in life that will fully succeed if we trust in HIM and remain in HIS ways. I do not give time nor effort to consider exelling on ones own. Yet as Randy has stated, our command is also to do the best at whatever we do, so ...... it can be asked, how are we to know how high our God given lot is if we do not strive to perfect the lot we are in ?

I believe you have the answer if pieced together..

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Daniel 4:4
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous.

Job 36:11
If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.

Philippians 4:12
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.

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

As those scriptures state - I think the key to contentment is giving God praise in the ups and downs of our lives - being consistent with our relationship with him in the good times and the bad.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Yes ma'am...

And.. oddly enough... I have had times of my life in which I "settled". But those are the times that served to give me understanding that life is to be pursued and lived.

That was a time in my life that people might be able to rightly point a finger at me and ask me why I was settling.

But... it was where I was back then and nothing could change that. No number of pep talks or motivational speeches would have made me think then the way I think now.

Looking back I rest in this. With God... no portion of my life is wasted. It all serves me and it all comes together to make me what I am now.

When I see another who is "settling" then I find my goal to be that I simply interject potential for growth into their lives. They cannot be driven but they can be inspired. But I have to keep in mind that they are not me and that I should never be shocked at what direction they move in when they act on the new potential.

I am glad I settled back then. It makes me a more effective witness in the life of the settlers I meet today.

Again... with God... nothing is wasted.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Exactly D4T!!!

I think the scriptures mean within our lives - the ups and downs to always rely on God and be content.

It doesn't mean the poor people need to be content with their lot in life and the rich people content with their lot in life.

And....so true - with God - nothing is wasted.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

Yes ma'am... even when I am not doing well... I am learning to do well.

When the day comes that I do well... it would not have been possible without the time that I did not do well.

God is God... I learn... I grow...

God loves me and accepts me as much when I am learning as he does when I have learned.

I am his kid... and he loves me... period.

Re: Content with our lot ?
 

I agree with you Brother, I think God wants us to always be content, but as the old timers used to say I am content but not satisifeid I want to continue to exel in all that I do. I think God wants us to be the best in everything that we do. If all we ever do is sweep floors then we should do our best and be the best sweeper. I believe everything we do even in the secular world we should do our best and glorify God. IDK if anyone as ever read about the Shakers movement but their catch phrase was hearts to God hands to work and they were some of the best workers and craftsmen that ever lived and they were respected by everyone because of all their honest hard work.

The best way for a Chrisitian to witness in the work place is to be a honest, responsible, and hard worker. I remeber Sis. Mangun said once I am not done yet theres still a lot of people not saved, she said I wont be satisfied until I have reached them all. One of the messages that so greatly convicted my heart was one by Bro. Huntley and it was "Is this how you want it to end?" he talked about how you shouldn't get to a place in your life when you say I am satisfied,I have preached by best message, I have done my part etc.. he said we need to say I am not done yet I may be old but I haven't preached my best message, I haven't witnessed the greatest revival, I may die but I am going to day proclaiming the Gospel and continuing to exel "this is not how I want it to end".