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Maybe You Didn’t Want Enough
Maybe You Didn’t Want Enough
Odis Duncan
I have no idea from what movie or TV the dialogue originates, but it is part of a montage put together for Apple+. Two men are sitting across from each other at a table when one says, “I think I have everything I ever wanted.” As I began to applaud his attitude, I heard his buddy respond, “Maybe you didn’t want enough.” My applause changed to a cry of frustration without the slightest delay.
When did the ability to find contentment become a negative character trait?
Luke 3:14 “And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “What are we to do, we as well?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone, nor harass anyone, and be content with your wages.”
Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”
1 Timothy 6:6-8 “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”
Hebrews 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,’”
What is wrong with being content with the material blessings allotted to me? James says a failure to be content is lust and leads to fighting, quarrelling and even murder (4:2).
The 2nd man in the story thinks he is helping. He believes he is encouraging his friend to set his sights higher and to accomplish more. The belief in our world is if we do more, achieve more and get more we will be happier. The reality, however, is he is sowing seeds of discontentment, frustration and Luckenbachism (2 car garage and still building on). If more equals happiness, why are so many celebrities, athletes and social influences with millions of fans and followers addicted, unhappy, depressed, and even suicidal?
Yet, the 2nd guy’s attitude is so prevalent in our culture we think it is normal. #1 – we are not happy with what we have. Enough is never enough. In fact, it has reached the point we are not even happy keeping up the Joneses, we must out do them. #2 – we cannot even be happy with what others have. His buddy could not accept the idea of contentment. He condemns his friend’s biblical attitude, believing he had sold out for too little.
Ecclesiastes 6:3, 6 “If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he…Even if the man lives a thousand years twice, but does not see good things—do not all go to one and the same place?” The days of Solomon and the days of 2023 are no different. We lack nothing, but contentment. Maybe instead of asking the contented if he wanted enough, we should ask ourselves if we wanted too much.
We will look at the flipside next week.
