If you’ve ever spoon-fed an infant, it’s surprising how aggressively they swallow a bite then, as quickly as they can catch a breath, begin to fuss for the next one. He would choke if you fed him any faster, yet he ekes out a complaint if there is the slightest hesitation between scoops. School-aged children show greater restraint, but you can still count on them to ask, “Are we almost there?” There seems to be a direct connection between maturity and contentment.
Likewise, developing a contented attitude is the Christian’s lifelong endeavor. If you were asked to name a spiritual role model it probably wouldn’t be someone with an expansive theological knowledge as much as a man or woman that is demonstrably resting in God’s providence. Those kinds of spiritual examples are consistently at peace. They are quick to recall the promises God has already kept, even as they work through their current difficulties.
One of the most significant events in the Bible is the Exodus. (It’s mentioned over 120 times in the Old Testament!) The scale of that miracle is difficult to reconcile as 600,000 men (which means 2-3 million people with women and children) were being hunted by an army when they were divinely given safe passage through the Red Sea. No harm came to a single one of them, yet God poured out His justice on the army so that not one of them survived. What a triumph! On experiencing God’s power firsthand, the people burst into songs of praise and proclaimed their wholehearted trust in God.
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses. (Ex. 14:30–31)
Given the magnitude of the miracle, how long would that carry the faith of those eyewitnesses? Would it sustain them for the rest of their lives? Maybe it would even extend into future generations. No, three months. The answer is three months. That’s the amount of time between God ushering them through two walls of water and them worshiping a hunk of melted metal.
And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” (Ex. 32:7–8)
Not only had they ceased to be content with God’s salvation, but they also attributed their salvation to another source. That is the natural course of discontent. It’s not likely you’ll sacrifice to an idol, but a failure to trust God is a failure to remember His salvation. Discontent subsequently breeds a search for hope in another source. Hope in anything other than God is idolatry.
The rationale behind the Israelites’ demand to make them an idol was, “As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Ex. 32:1). They were willing to sacrifice their faith because they didn’t know what was going to happen next.
Do you reflect on what God has done for you in the past? Does that provide comfort for you in the present or do you quickly forget and scramble for hope in other sources? If you are tempted to question God because you don’t know what’s going to happen next, reflect on His past victories and be encouraged. Don’t be the baby that demands the next blessing as you’re still digesting the current one. Don’t be the child that has to constantly ask how far away His promise is because you can’t bear to wait to get there. All the promises of God will be kept at its designated time. Demonstrate Christian maturity by being content in the Lord. Let the past assure your present.
Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. (Josh. 21:45)