How intriguing it is that the world never ceases to present us with multiple options that always leaves us spoilt for choice– multidimensional layers and alternatives of human endeavours that never leave you sometimes clueless on how to proceed: clothes to wear, hair styles to try, TV channels to switch to, movies to watch, careers to pursue, gadgets to use, courses to study, songs to listen to, locations to visit, ladies to wed, men to marry. There is literally a plethora of options dangled before your face that never stops unfolding even for millions of years to come.

Variety is the spice of life, goes the old saying and this is exactly the case here — our world is spiced with the different options and improvements and updates that are available at any given time in any field or sphere. This ensures the world is never bored and is always supplied something to keep them engaged and pre-occupied.

The Background

The fact remains that man is inherently insatiable and always longs for an improved version of a product, an item or even himself/herself. Many who suffer depression today is because they feel stuck, helpless and handicapped to improve on the version of themselves or their lives that they can see right now. The insatiableness of man is what fuels the urge to keep birthing and improving on the quality of his life and the world around him. This is the secret to innovation and many great inventions. This in itself is good.

And then there is the other conversation on boredom. Man, inherently desires happiness. Many have termed this ‘the pursuit of happiness,’ and every sign of boredom threatens this pursuit. At the crux of this desire is also the need to get a confirmation or affirmation of progress, advancement and improvement that boredom sometimes seems to stifle. Boredom makes you feel stuck.

So, if you combine man’s insatiableness and man’s desire for happiness (threatened by boredom), what it produces is the variety that we see in today’s world. An inward desire for more and a longing for happiness is the formula for the variety that spices our world.

The Challenge

While these twin desires are valid (God put them there) and beneficial (innovations and inventions are birthed from them), the challenge for many is contentment.

Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied — Proverbs 27:20

Scripture explains that as far as the world is concerned, if not harnessed, your eyes (your desires) will never be satisfied. That desperate desire to know more, see more, do more and be more is always going to be there. While this same desire is usually the starting point of many giant strides in the world, isn’t it funny that the scripture compares this with hell? In effect, any mind that never finds contentment even in the pursuit for more is like hell and will end up in destruction. The solution is not to eliminate your desire for more, but to find satisfaction (contentment) even in pursuit.

The Complexities

So, here is where many people miss it. In an attempt to silence the noise of boredom and the ache in their soul for more, they drown themselves in the pursuit of something that doesn’t satisfy, so dissatisfaction births more dissatisfaction, and ends in hell and destruction. This is often proven either in lack or in abundance. In lack, you are bereft of something that has placed a gaping need in your soul for more; boredom and depression gradually begin to set in as a result, especially when the lack is not rightly processed.

On the other hand, in abundance, you have achieved a major feat and height, but the urge for more still resides in you. If not processed rightly, you choose or act wrongly. This was the mistake David made that created a stain in his sterling reputation. His kingdom was established without oppositions, so he was comfortable, but still having a desire and hunger to do more and conquer territories, he wrongly processed this desire and conquered for himself another man’s wife instead, leaving a consequence that troubled him to his old age. It was the same mistake the rich fool made:

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. — Luke 12:16–19

His ground brought forth plentifully — he had accomplished a lot of things but needed the next level; he needed more. This desire for more brought in his heart the suggestion for expansion — to pull down his barns and build greater ones. Be careful how you arrive at your desires and decisions in your pursuit for more. The path to either destruction or elevation often begins with a desire. What you do with the desire is the real question.

The Solution

The questions are endless. What do I do with boredom? How do I move from where I am to where I want to be or at least somewhere else apart from where I am? What do I do with limitless access or limited resources so I am not a victim of abundance or lack? These questions, wrongly processed can be the beginning of a man’s downfall but processed rightly, can birth amazing things in your life.

The lesson here is that of contentment. Godliness with contentment, scripture says, is great gain. Your desires are valid but they must be pursued in contentment. Contentment is not foregoing your desires for a better future; contentment is submitting your desires to your Creator in pursuit. Simply put, contentment is submission in pursuit. In contentment, you are so at peace about where you are that the enemy cannot hijack your desires as you advance. Enemy-hijacked desires are the ones that end in destruction.

Putting it all Together

God calls you the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World. This simply means that you are the Spice of the World through the Variety that you bring to it. This is what guarantees your Relevance, Rulership and Reign on the earth. Once you get stuck and are no longer able to evolve, you lose your spice, and hence your reign on the earth. The most successful organizations and individuals are those who survive trends and dispensations and keep evolving and never lose their relevance, hence continue to reign. So are the most successful Christians!

But this variety that guarantees your continued reign is tested and birthed when either abundance and/or lack are processed correctly in the context of hunger, boredom and desires. This can only be achieved by mastering Contentment.

Contentment in pursuit is a potent secret to Reigning in Life!

Therefore, Dear Reader,

Master Contentment!

Pursue in Rest!

Proceed in Praise!

Plan in Gratitude!

Labour in Peace!

Never Settle but Never Hustle!

Cos You’re a King!

And You’ll Reign in this Life.

Do have a Spirit-Inspired and God-Sized Week!!

Peace Bamidele

@askpeace_