Ah-h-h- Contentment!

'Self-sufficiency' is a big word in our culture. By our worldly connotations, it sounds very self-serving. This morning I began exploring the word in the Bible to see what the Bible says about sufficiency and contentment.  I dug up the Greek word 'autarkees' . The verb form is used in Philippians 4:11:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content (ah-h-h!).

Thayer's defines this greek word as "a perfect condition of life, in which no aid or support is needed.  I found two uses of the noun "autarkia". The first one is in 2 Corinthians:

8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 2 Corinthians 9:8

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6

The context of the Timothy verse is a warning about the world's answer for contentment. The world's idea of contentment is in direct contrast with godly contentment. It is very shallow. Shallow water is difficult to swim in. Our culture today is pushing dependency on things that are temporary, unfulfilling and provide difficulty in maintaining buoyancy. Crashing into the rocks need not be our currency.

In Corinthians 'grace' is connected to good works through sufficiency. Grace is a very powerful word Check out II Corinthians12:9: 'My grace is sufficient (arkeo) for thee'. God told Paul that ' grace' would hold him up when adversity hit. Grace is internal sufficiency despite what is going on externally (imperfect though we are). It is a great thing to remember when some wind ruffles our surface.

I love sitting on a beach and looking out over the ocean. As the waves hit the shore it can get choppy and appears ruffled, but farther out in deeper waters, it is calm; maybe a bit wavy on the surface but deep within, there is contentment.