[Music] the third word here it is is contentment contentment if you're going to be a Kingdom Single that is an unmarried believer who has committed themselves to fully and freely maximizing their completeness under the rule of God then the key is going to have to be contentment contentment means to be at ease where you are until you get where you want to be it means to be at rest where you are until something changes contentment doesn't mean you don't want a better job contentment doesn't mean you don't want more income contentment doesn't mean you don't want to get married one day contentment doesn't mean you don't want to have kids and raise a family contentment doesn't stop dreaming but contentment means I'm not living a worried life while I wait do you know why Eve sinned because the devil created discontent in Genesis chapter 3 Satan told her God is holding out on you girlfriend God holding out on you why would he hold out on that one tree he me God is messing with you he he's limiting you he's not letting you express yourself he ain't letting you fulfill your desires he's not letting you have it your way God I mean if I was God I wouldn't be put you in this situation and all of a sudden that tree in the middle of the garden got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger she went from I can't eat from it and I can't touch it meaning I can't go near that tree two boy that tree sure look good cuz verse six says when she saw that the tree was good for food it was always there good for food it was a delight to the eyes it was pretty to look at it was always there pretty to look at and it was able to make one wise make you feel good about what you're learn and she said uh she ate because he made her discontent all of a sudden all those other trees didn't matter anymore all those other free trees didn't matter anymore cuz there's this one tree that I got to have and I got to have it now discontent in all of our lives about a lot of areas not just relationships that's just one area but many things in our lives can foster whether you're single or married discontent but to be a Kingdom Single means that you are living out your completeness and so you are content until something in some area of Your Life Changes by the will word and grace of God but here's what you need to know about contentment it's not automatic it's not automatic let's hear from the single man Paul again in Philippians chapter 4 he says in verse 11 not that I speak from want for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance I have learned The Secret of being filled and going hungry both of having abundance and suffering need I can do all things through him who strengthens me guess what he had to learn it contentment is not automatic you don't just wake up content nor do you get content just cuz you pray for it Lord Make Me content in my [Music] singlehood and you're more miserable after the prayer than when you prayed it no he says wait a minute this has to be a learning experience well in order to learn something you've got to be exposed to the information that you got to learn you you don't just learn out of thin air somebody is giving you data to use in order to learn it so what is the data that will grow you in your contentment as a Kingdom Single what is the information base well he actually tells you in every Circumstance the way God teaches us contentment is through circumstances in every circumstance situation I've learned the secret all of us knows what it is to have bad days and have good days usually on the good days we're fairly content on the bad days we're fairly discontent and we rotate we swing between content discontent content discontent he says but I have learned through my circumstances contentment which means you got to have circumstances you have to have situations in your life that forces you to be content okay watch this you have to have situations in your life when prayers are not being answered yet oh all of us know what it is frustrating to talk to God day after day week after week month after month year after year and nothing busy signal along the line God's taking a nap feel like he's going on vacation blessing everybody else but you other folk getting promoted you're not other folk getting raises you're not other folk getting married you not let me give you an example out of the same single man's life Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason to keep me from exalting myself there was given me a thorn in the flesh a thorn is a needle that irritates you Pricks you ticks you off a messenger of Satan to torment me to keep me from exalting myself okay so let me before I go on let me let me stop right there he says the devil sent my problem says a messenger of Satan we don't know what the what the particular problem was it could have been eyesight it could have been an irritating person in his life because it says Messengers so that could be a person whatever it was it was ticking him off he goes on to say so I asked God to get rid of it concerning that this verse eight I employed the the Lord three times that it might leave me I said God deal with this cuz it's driving me nuts because it's a thorn it's irritating me and he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness most gladly therefore watch this I would rather boast about my my weaknesses so that the power of Christ May dwell in me verse 10 therefore I am well what's the next word content with weaknesses with insults with distresses with persecutions with difficulties for Christ's sake for when I am weak then I am strong now compare that with what he says in Philippians 4 when he says I can do all all things through him who strengthens me God teaches us contentment by giving us circumstances where he does not immediately address the prayer request directly now watch this and he even allows the devil to bring the problem because it was the devil bringing it but it was God who allowed it and it was God who didn't stop it after he prayed he says the reason why God let me get in this discontented situation because I prayed that it would leave me was because there was something spiritual he wanted me to deal with in my life to keep me from my problem of Pride to show me I ain't all that have you ever been in a situation that you said this is is something I'll never do and you did it okay and you did it and God didn't block it sometimes you say God why didn't you block it because when God heard you say never making you think you all that in a bag of chips he responded by saying okay let's see if never really means never ever ever never so now after that's happened you get a little more humble Lord by your grace I won't do this all of a sudden well all of a sudden it it it it shifts down a little bit a notch because now your Humanity has shown itself and you weren't nearly as christianized as you thought you were contentment God stabilizing you when the circumstances are not in your favor and you have to lean on him in a way you wouldn't normally have to lean on him he becomes more prominent the most notable person in the Bible or one of the most notable persons is a single young man named Joseph I mean you talk about up and down roller coaster to living circumstances in a pit by his brother that means he's single and alone single and alone he's been forsaken by his family turned into a slave then it look like he finally gets a bright light in Piper's house now he's accused of rape then he goes to jail does good in jail thinks he's finally going to get out but the guy forgets him so he's in jail two years longer and it says in the scripture he was in the dungeon with handcuffs on and bound with hand and foot you talk about a reason to be discontent and all that I just describ he's going through as a single man and he's he's going through a miserable situation however when Stephen in Acts chapter 7 was giving the history of Israel he comes to verse nine and he says Joseph's brothers put him in the pit but then the last line of that verse says but God was with him God was with him where in the pit in the pit see when you discover God in the hole when you discover God in the pit now it's easy to discover God when it's all good it's easy to discover God when the raise has come and the job is there and you know the relationship is good and and it looks like that might be the one and it's easy to discover God then but what about God in the pit what about the God not answering the thorn so what did Paul do when he had his Thorn he said I gloried in my weakness now that's not normal the normal thing is to complain in my weakness to fuss and cuss in my weakness been single all these years my biological clock is ticking you know thought this was the one and he went left on me or she went left on me ah he says oh no I have learned that when it's not right and you want it off you but it won't go anywhere that God is trying to do something deeper so I'm going to praise him in my my weakness so that his power is made manifest and I am strengthened so back to Philippians when he says I have learned the secret that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me there it is there is the secret what's the secret sh don't tell nobody it's a secret he said secret is to Glory when things aren't right because then his strength shows up to Glory when it's not where you want it to be and you're disappointed that the prayer hasn't been answered instead of complaining at that moment which is the natural thing to do as a Kingdom Single you appeal to the king I am going to give you glory in my pit I'm G give you glory in myself I'm going to glorify you honor you serve you in my mess and how will you know when God is showed up because he says he will give you strength he didn't say he was G to change it at least not right then he says you gonna get this infusion of power this infusion of strength this Supernatural presence that will come when you glory in your weakness that the power of God might be made manifest Isaiah 40 I love the way it ends he giveth new Strength he gives new strength to the weary to the tired to the toe up from the flow up to the single who doesn't know whether he or she can make it any longer he gives new Strength that is the new capacity to keep on keeping on don't let discontent cause you to be a defeated single but focus on what God can give you in the secret of your gratitude the power of your praise even when your emotions are not cooperating even when you're not feeling it my son Anthony was really struggling growing up as an asthmatic so we would take him to the doctor regularly for epinephrine shots when he had an attack the epim shot was given by a needle I remember well taking him to the doctor's office and the doctor coming with the needle to hit him to put it in his skin but the doctor would always do something first he would reach into his drawer and pull out a lollipop and give him a lollipop while my son was licking the lollipop the doctor would come with a needle pop bamn so my son would go cuz he was hurting he was in pain he was struggling but as tears rolled down his eyes his eyes caught a look at that [Music] lollipop he would be going [Music] now don't get me wrong the lollipop didn't stop the pain but it became so sweet in the pain and because his Focus shifted he could endure the pain until the pain went away so I'm not trying to be super spiritual I know it hurts when you're by yourself and you don't want to be I know it hurts when other people are having relationships that are going somewhere and you don't I know it hurts and it may cause you to cry when they're being fairer to others on the job than you I know it hurts when you've been ruined and abused and misused I understand that but Jesus is here on the scene with a lollipop and he says if I can get you to focus on me you will discover he's sweet I know so as a Kingdom Single remember now that it is your completeness you're already complete you don't need a man or woman to make you that way your calling you've got a Divine Purpose to fulfill and your contentment work together to make you the single God wants you to be God bless you [Music]