You Asked For It: Secret of Contentment

July 27, 2025

Pastor Patrick presented today's message, "You Asked For It: Secret of Contentment" A video of today's message is here on YouTube. This series started with folks being asked to submit scriptures that they would like explained/explored. So, it's quite literally: "You asked for it!"

Today's scripture is Philippians 4:13 (KJV): "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." The meaning is a bit more accurate in NIV: "I can do all this [see verses 10-12] through him who gives me strength."

As I always do, I wonder what words or thoughts in the Old Testament (OT), in Hebrew, speak to the topic. Let's take a look...

One OT word for "rest content" is abah (אָבָה). The ancient root has an interesting meaning: "to breathe after" like a sigh or recovering. Translations use words like acquiesce, willing, and accept. I think it's also interesting that it's very close to the word abba (Aramaic), father.

Another OT word is yatab (יָטַב). It carries more of a "be content" meaning. It's used in Leviticus 10:20 (KJV), "And when Moses heard that, he was content." The reference is to hearing from Aaron (Moses' son, the high priest) that the offering(s) had been done appropriately.

Here's another Proverbs reference, 19:23, "The fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil." The word translated as satisfied (sabea, שָׂבֵעַ) always suggests a divinely granted contentment. It's used when a covenant is fulfilled, for example. And as I've mentioned before, the word "fear" is not a "quake in the boots" fear but rather more of an awe and respect sense, a sense of "this is the guy I need to worry about pleasing." See Godfearing." According to Strong, here are the occurrences of sabea: Genesis 25:8, Genesis 35:29, Deuteronomy 33:23, 1 Samuel 2:5, 1 Chronicles 29:28, Job 42:17, Proverbs 19:23, and Proverbs 27:7.

The 23rd Psalm leads with the notion that with God we should want for nothing (KJV): "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Sounds like contentment to me.

Notice that I mostly used contentment rather than content. In researching this essay, I discovered that there's a rather big deal made amongst linguists regarding the difference between the two. I'm not sure it makes much difference in our discussion. Here's an example of describing the difference between the two: Contentment vs Content – Difference and Comparison. The photo above is from another article: Contentment vs Content – What’s the Difference.

Bonus

Cell Phones - Blessing and Curse

Cell phones bring you closer to persons far away. But they also take you away from the ones sitting next to you.

Like everything, cell phones are a blessing and a curse. It all depends on you and what you do or how you use it.

Right away in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are presented with two choices. Both choices have an upside and a downside. Do not eat of that tree and live in nirvana but without freewill. Eat of that tree and have freewill and a very tough life.

This is not unlike obeying your parents or any other trustworthy authority. Choosing to follow their advice may have short-term inconvenience or hardship, but long-term benefits. Choosing not to follow may be great in the short term and horrid in the long.

Bonus2

Normalization of Deviance

My favorite three podcasts are about aviation. I started with aviation incident and accident reports and have grown into industry business topics as well. These podcasts are headed up by the same guy, Petter Hörnfeldt (Swedish): Mentour Pilot, Mentour Now, and Captains Speaking.

Aviation accidents usually boil down to one or a number of problem areas such as mechanical, pilot, weather, training, etc. One type of problem that can invade almost all of the areas is referred to as Normalization of Deviance. Normalization of Deviance is the gradual process in which the unacceptable becomes acceptable because there are no consequences (yet) for the deviant behavior.

It's a form of complacency. "I haven't bothered with the checklists for years and have been doing just fine." "I often sneak below the minimum descent altitude until I see the runway." It works great, without consequence, until it doesn't. In the world of aviation, when it doesn't it's catastrophic.

Deviant, in this sense, refers to deviating from best practices, most of which are written up and taught in the aviation industry and are referred to as Standard Operating Procedures. Aviation has many of these. Book-loads, in fact, that pilots carry with them (or have on their iPads) for what to do in various abnormal situations as well as checklists for very normal procedures.

Normalization of Deviance is when deviant behavior becomes so common that it is considered normal despite the risk to the safety of the group.

Consider the Broken Windows Theory. The name refers to broken windows you often see in rundown areas. Broken windows are among the first signs of a failing neighborhood. The presence of unchecked petty crime leads to ever-growing serious crime. And if you don't get on top of it, the area or society will fail. Deviant behavior, if not corrected, will lead to downfall.

Deviant has a harsher tone than is really intended here. The behavior we're talking about could be as simple as taking shortcuts. Skipping some of the rules or protocols because they seem over-protective, not worth the time, don't really matter because I know what I'm doing. "Those rules don't apply to me." Deviance can develop insidiously. "Nothing bad has happened so far!" Risk has no memory, there's no consequence, until there is. Some people refuse to wear a seat belt, and it works just fine, until it doesn't.

Normalization of Deviance could also be referred to as a slippery slope. It starts gently, things feel good, safe. And like the frog boiling in water, doesn't even notice that the slope is getting steeper and steeper as well as more and more slippery.

Normalization of Deviance is fought with discipline and tenacity for compliance. "He's a stickler for the rules" is a good thing. Humility is key as well.

Dennis Prager has called the Torah "The Manufacturer's Instruction Manual for the Human Being." I'm liking that to the manufacturer's and the airline's guide to flying an airplane." I have no problem with referring our entire Bible that way.

The things that distract us from "being compliant" include laziness, unmindfullness, pressures, fame, wealth, status, "most of the time it's OK," being on "autopilot," communication failure, bad habits, and being sloppy. There's a great deal of overlap here with what the Bible would call "false gods."

Holding each other accountable in the pilot world is called Crew Resource Management (CRM). Among other actions, you call out things. You call out altitudes, speeds, settings of controls, etc. You also "call out" your cockpit partner when you think they're proceeding incorrectly. When it comes to living a Godly life, we need to use crew resource management, too; that is, keep each other in line, flying straight and level.

What if we called it Normalization of Sin? What sins are normalized in your workplace, your home, your social groups, your behavior? Best practices and standard operating procedures in this realm include: prayer, Bible reading, community, self-reflection, and the like. Continuously.