If You Want to Overcome Anxiety—Learn Contentment

What is one dependable way to lessen worry and anxiety immediately? Learn contentment.

Yes, this sounds counter to everything we hear and read in the media. From television commercials to Facebook feeds, we’re lured into thinking that we’ll never have enough. Sound bites and Instagram reels convince us our lives are not as glamorous or perfect as our neighbors.

Dis-contentment leads to envy and envy accelerates anxiety.

Isn’t it ironic that in the US, Black Friday falls on the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday? As a society we celebrate gratefulness one day then materialism the next. We are quick to thank God for what we have but then rush out to buy more. Clearly thankfulness doesn’t equate with contentment.

When blessings arrive, it’s easy to give thanks for them. However, if circumstances don’t go our way, a grateful attitude is difficult to grasp. Thankfulness like happiness often is situation dependent. Choosing to be thankful no matter what the circumstance is a quality of contentment. It’s a learned behavior built on the rocky terrain of a life full of both pitfalls and provision.

While awaiting execution, the Apostle Paul demonstrated this state of mind when he penned his letter to the Philippians. He had mastered the ability to be content whether chained in prison or dining with friends.

For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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.

Philippians 4:11-12 NIV

Paul’s secret to contentment remains a mystery to our modern thinking. Acceptance in the face of adversity doesn’t make sense to most of us. Like Job in the Bible, we rail against it. Why is this happening? What have I done to deserve this? Through Job’s suffering, God revealed Himself. However, He never answered his question ‘why.’

In the same way, we journey through much of life blind to the ‘big picture’. God outlines His overarching plan in scripture and gives us small glimpses of our part in His story through our experiences. Blessings and suffering come wrapped together in the same package. We struggle to understand it yet none of us are immune. This is the human condition.

During a dark period in my own life, I wrestled with competing emotions. In 2020, the pandemic raged and my sister, Beth, was dying from an aggressive form of cancer at the same time as my first grandson was born. It’s difficult to fully relish a blessing when the dark clouds of grief hang over our heads. Accepting the whole of life is my challenge.

Even so, there’s much to be learned from a prisoner’s letter long ago. Paul’s secret to contentment was trust. He trusted in the Lord to give him strength in all circumstances whether good or bad. He relinquished the need to understand, thus opening his heart to joy. Thankfulness and contentment become one when we turn the outcome over to the Lord.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we too can make the choice to learn contentment. Anxiety and worry pose no stronghold against our personal well-being when we build our lives on the mighty foundation of the Word of God, and we put all our trust in the Lord, Jesus.

You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.

Philippians 4:19-20 Message Bible