Courtney Doctor talks with Melissa Kruger, and Elizabeth Woodson about the true meaning of contentment and how to find it. They discuss how discontentment springs from the attitude of our hearts rather than our circumstances and will only be overcome by trusting God’s goodness. They talk about the enemies of contentment as well as how the psalms of lament show us that grieving is compatible with contentment. We can confess that God has withheld no good thing while also asking, “How long, O Lord?”

Recommended Resources:

• Embrace Your Life by Elizabeth Woodson
• The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger

Related Content:

• Looking for Contentment? It’s Not What You Think
• Will God Provide for Your Needs?
• Your Church Needs Your Contentment
• Discover the Grace of Lament

Discussion Questions:

1. In what areas of life do you struggle with comparison? How have you experienced comparison feeding feelings of discontentment?
2. What regular practices help you continually remind yourself to find contentment in the “past certainty and future hope” God provides instead of your current circumstances? In what ways is this challenging for you as well?
3. Can you think of an example in your life where God has made the “boundary lines” fall in pleasant places (Psalm 16:6 even if you didn’t immediately recognize it)? What past circumstance has taught you that what he has given (or withheld) is enough?
4. What would it look like to “delight yourself in the Lord” in your current season of life?
5. In what ways have you experienced God transforming your desires into what he desires?
6. What current circumstance is God using as a “schoolroom” to teach you how to trust him more deeply?