I watched Aladdin with my granddaughter today. Every time I watch this movie, I am convicted by the same part of the movie. Here is the dialog that gets me thinking.
Aladdin: “Wow. The palace looks pretty amazing, huh?”
Princess Jasmine: [glumly] “Oh… It’s wonderful.”
Aladdin: “I wonder what it’d be like to live there, and have servants, and valets.”
Princess Jasmine: “Oh, sure. People who tell you where to go and how to dress.”
Aladdin: “That’s better than here. You’re always scraping for food and ducking the guards.”
Princess Jasmine: “You’re not free to make your own choices.”
Aladdin: “Sometimes you feel so…”
Princess Jasmine: “You’re just…”
Aladdin, Princess Jasmine: “…trapped.”
Let me set the stage.
Princess Jasmine has run away from the palace because she felt like she was a prisoner. Aladdin is a poor, unemployed young man who lives by his wits in the streets of Agrabah. He too feels trapped and unable to change things because of his poverty. When they meet, Jasmine finds excitement in Aladdin’s life. He dreams of living in the palace.
They each are suffering from the same malady, discontentment. Although they each have benefits in their life, they don’t see them. Aladdin is young and free. He has nothing to tie him down. He could pick up at a moment’s notice and travel the world. Career choices are endless. He has no responsibility other than finding purpose for living.
Jasmine has every physical need met. She has a father you loves her and is seeking her best. She has a life of privilege and comfort. She has every material blessing including the most fabulous home. She has no responsibility other than to find someone to love and spend her life with.
From the outside, I can see the benefits that each of them has. But I can also appreciate their discontent because I suffer from the same malady. But I need to change that. As I watched the rest of the movie, I realized that a lack of contentment brings disaster.
Aladdin needed to memorize Hebrews 13:5. “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” Aladdin’s discontent harmed a lot of people. His obsession with riches and moving up in life caused all kinds of unnecessary problems. His sin and lack of trust in the great God of the universe became life threatening.
Jasmine also faced scary situations because she was dissatisfied. She left the palace causing her father worry and she put Aladdin in harm’s way. Her selfish choice caused pain for others. She needed to read Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
This discontent is not just a story line from an animated film. It is a line from life. Discontent people are harming one another daily. They are also harming themselves in the process. People seek wealth so they neglect their families and lose them. Many think a new and exciting relationship would be better than the one they are currently in, so they cheat, leaving a wake of emotional destruction behind them. Gamblers lose thousands of dollars because they are not content with what they currently have. Many unsatisfied people self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, leading them to a numb existence where they don’t fully live and enjoy.
A lack of contentment robs us of safety, peace, joy, and life. Always seeking something else, we don’t relax and immerse ourselves in what we already have when we are discontent. Fortunately, God has an answer for this. He is the answer.
If we seek God first and foremost, all the things we need for life and godliness are ours already. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3–4, ESV) We can escape from the corruption that sinful desire brings by resting in the fact that we are partakers of His divine nature. He, Himself will never leave us or forsake us. He gives us strength to do all things, no matter what our outward circumstances are.
Contentment is an important characteristic of the believer’s life. If we can truly find contentment in Jesus, we will protect our hearts and the hearts of those around us.
Do you need more encouragement to be content in God? Read and meditate on Psalm 145!