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True Contentment:
In the Hustle
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus:
True contentment comes when you mix faith with hustle
Sometimes people figure contentment to mean passivity. We want to let the Bible redefine that misunderstanding. When we think about hustle, we can think about an athlete giving their all on the court or field. What we mean by hustle today is faith in action leading to contentment.
We want you to understand Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and the life of God. The question that I need to be asking is what can I do during this time as I wait for things to change?
The answer is: I can find contentment in the hustle.
There are three parts to this message:
When Faith and Hustle Meet
Contentment in the Hustle
Hustle in the Kingdom of God
I. When Faith and Hustle Meet
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
2 Kings 4:1-7
What we notice about the life of Elisha is that there were continual miracles in the midst of turmoil when people sought the God of Israel. It will be the same for us today. Contentment with hustle needs to be understood as a pairing that brings a strength that God wants in us all.
True contentment:
What it is - Hustle in the midst of trusting God for the outcome,
What it is not - Waiting for God to do everything
True contentment is in the hustle. True contentment does not mean a lack of effort. Nor does receiving the grace of God mean that you don’t have to do anything for the miracle of God to occur. The power of resurrection life in Jesus is that the righteous rise from death in the midst of tragedy.
What we know is that this woman’s story started in tragedy. She had lost her husband, a man of God, and was left alone with two children who were under the threat of being conscripted into slavery. In tragedy, we have to make moves towards God.
Elisha asks the question of what he can do for the woman WHEN she first makes a request of him, as a proxy for God, to whom the woman was actually looking for help. She went because she believed that he could actually do something about her situation. We, in the same way, must make an approach towards God for help, not just wish that something were different.
This is a picture of prayer. This is faith.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:1-2, 6
When we approach God, he’ll start with what we have. This is true even when the woman thought little of the oil that she had to work with. The miracle starts with what you have, not what you don’t have. The woman was asked what she had in her house - what she already had in her possession.
We need to ask ourselves this question when looking to God to change our situation:
What do I have as a skill, ability, or resource that can now be miraculously multiplied with the touch of the Lord and some creativity?
Even when things are stable in your environment, look to build an extension to the house.
The woman was told to get empty vessels and not too few. Begin with the things in your world that were previously being neglected or underutilized. Everyone is adjusting.
You should be asking yourself the question:
What new innovation can you bring to your company or business that will help it prosper and fulfill the purpose of God during this time? God has a purpose in your work!
You will be content when you feel like you’ve sought God for the benefit of those whom you serve and don’t resign the people to whom you’re attached to either slavery or obsolescence. This is what the woman did in seeking out Elisha.
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
-Steve Martin
In times of trial, you want to have a Miracle Mentality (like Kobe’s Mamba mentality). Only when each jar was full was the woman instructed to set it aside. We need to maximize every opportunity that we are given to their FULL potential to be content with each stewardship we are given.
God wants the oil of the Holy Spirit to touch every opportunity that he places in our hands.
Be encouraged!
So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her.
2 Kings 4:5
It was while the woman and her sons were shut in, locked away with God, that the miracle began to take place.
“Without great solitude no serious work is possible.”
- Pablo Picasso
When you maximize one opportunity, go on to the next. In this instance with Elisha, the miracle reached its limit WHEN the effort in gathering the jars in which to put the oil stopped.
II. Contentment in the Hustle
When I’ll be content:
I will be content when I realize that I’ve done EVERYTHING that I can to see God move, not just waiting on my condition to change or for something to happen. The threat of the woman’s sons being sold into slavery drove her to seek the Word of the Lord. I will be content when I realize that I will be rewarded for my acts of faith, not my wishing something would be different.
The woman had to get into gear. She had to humble herself, asking to borrow the jars from her neighbors to help get her new oil business started.
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
-James 2:26
What act of humility is God calling you to make? Are you too prideful to get the help where you need it? Or too lazy? Are you too reserved for your miracle? Will your lack of motivation keep you from your miracle?
God uses these types of provisions to break us EVEN AS he advances us so that the glory can belong to him alone. In the end, it is a protection for us. I will be content when I realize I will be judged according to my obedience, not my results.
The woman couldn’t produce the supernatural supply of oil herself. She needed God to move in response to her obedience. This can be seen clearly in the hustle expected in team sports. You’re always looking for the good of the team and not just standing around. You’re readying yourself to contribute when the ball comes your way. You are CONSTANTLY ENGAGED, encouraging those who are currently making plays, while looking to make plays of your own.
Don’t get isolated!
The jars were borrowed to create in the woman not dependency on people, but an interdependent lifestyle where she looked to God and his ways as her source of provision.
“You’re free when you realize you’re willing to go the length that is necessary.”
-Wendell Berry
(born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.[1]
I will be content when I realize that as I follow God’s instructions, he will meet EVERY NEED of mine according to his riches and glory in Jesus. Supernatural provision is released when I follow God’s instructions. For example, when I refrain from living beyond my means and tithe, God takes care of my needs. When I obey the unction of the Holy Spirit to sow in times of famine rather than eating my seed, God supernaturally multiplies what I have in him (Genesis 26).
God-given needs must be the standard of our contentment. Not every desire is a God-given need. In fact, some of the things that are mere desires are what get us into trouble in the first place. We don’t know what caused the debt of the prophet. As a result of following God’s instructions, the woman was able to pay off her debts AND to provide for her family with what remained.
(Moral of the story: Don’t blow your stimulus check.)
At the end of the day, God had the woman start a new business in the midst of her grief to overcome her tragedy. Her contentment would come from a new chapter starting in her life.
It is true that this type of thinking can be exhausting.
However, you can imagine the mother thinking the following when she was tempted to throw up her hands:
Who’s watching?:
Our children, loved ones, the world AND Jesus - the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
III. Hustle in the Kingdom of God
How does this apply to the Kingdom of God?
First there has to be an understanding of the oil of the Holy Spirit - that God will fill you as often as you come to him to meet your needs and those of your family.
Second, God deals with debts that are owed.
We all had a debt that could not be paid.
Because of our rebellion against God, we were sold into slavery to sin and were headed for an eternity separated from God in hell.
Jesus, the anointed One, full of the oil of the Holy Spirit, came with miracle power to pay our debts so that we might live by faith in the merits of his life.
On the cross, Jesus ultimately paid the debt that all of us inherited, sinful patterns of life passed down to us from our fathers.
As we turn from our sin and self-sufficiency, we can put our trust in the fact that God not only forgives us, but calls us to his family business by the power, the oil, the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
What now?
Should we be content in the midst of a plague? Yes and no. We should be content that God cares and will meet our needs in the midst of this tragedy. We should not be content in regards to what we are to do. We need to apply the same hustle to Kingdom activity as the woman did in seeing the oil jars filled.
Plagues in the Scripture represented death and judgment. The cross of Jesus Christ represented no less as Jesus took the death and judgment that we all deserve. Now God is calling people to the cross for the forgiveness of sins even in the midst of this plague. God now calls Christians a royal priesthood in the Lord.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
-1 Peter 2:9
What did the priests of God do in times of plague? They were great intercessors who cried out to God for mercy and brought the sword to the people to end the source of the plagues (Numbers 16:41-50; 25:1-13).
The Word of God is called the sword of the Spirit that cuts away sin and allows people to see the miracle hope found in the gospel. When our salvation is secure (when we receive the payment of our debts by Jesus), God calls us to intercessory activity on behalf of the debts owed by others. This is like the woman who took what she earned from the jars of oil to pay for what her deceased husband owed while also providing for the needs of her family who remained. This activity begins with prayer.
“God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of front-line forces, and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.”
- John Piper (theologian)
Let the Nations Be Glad!: The Supremacy of God in Missions
This intercessory activity continues with the sharing of the gospel. While content with our own salvation, we need to hustle to make the most of every opportunity that people might meet Jesus and have their eternal debts paid.
“...left to ourselves we lapse into a kind of collusion with entropy, acquiescing in the general belief that things may be getting worse but that there's nothing much we can do about them. And we are wrong. Our task in the present...is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.”
-N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
The reality that we see in the Bible is that tough times hit the righteous as well as the unrighteousness. All the while, there is a divine solution for our present needs! The people of God are able to access this supernatural provision as they maintain contentment in the hustle, keeping their anchor in eternal things.
Study
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Second City Church - True Contentment - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020