I have a lecture called "The Grace of Contentment," that can be heard at
http://www.digitalministries.us/steve_g ... ntment.mp3
What does contentment look like? It looks like resignation to the will of God, and fulfillment in it. This is not compatible with passivity, because the will of God is for us to be doing certain things, which become the basis of what we then will have. It will not do to sit idly and say, "I will be content with whatever things God may wish to provide for me," when the will of God encompasses His will for our actions as well as for our incomes.
The principal thing is to seek only the will of God and then to be resigned to what may come to me in that pursuit. It is the simplest of all Christian duties. Of course, knowing what the will of God is in many situations may not be simple or obvious, but that is all that needs concern me. Does He want me to marry or be unmarried? What kind of car shall I drive? Where shall I live? Does He want me to get a regular job...and if so, which one?
Whatever vocation God chooses for me will, most likely, come with its own, built-in, standard-of-living limitations. If I have opportunity to be promoted, or to change jobs, or to move into more comfortable accommodations, and these advances involve no compromise of my other Christian duties, then there is no harm in accepting these improvements as the blessing of God.
The key is to have no agendas other than to be in the will of God. That's what it means to "Delight yourself in the Lord" (Ps.37:4)—which includes the promise that "He will give you the desires of your heart." To delight in the prospect of attaining to some earthly status or circumstance, so that God is either seen as my servant to help me reach my goals, or else He is seen as an accessory for which I will try to find some room, if possible, in my pursuit of my goals, is to fail in this basic duty.
The exhortation, "Be content with such things as you have" is justified by the following rationale: "For he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" That is, if you have God, what else would you require? If your delight is in the Lord, then you will have what your heart desires—Him. That He is enough, with or without the addition of whatever worldly things one might desire, is a fact to which many throughout history have been able to testify.
So what does a content man look like? He looks like someone whose sole concern is to be pleasing to God in everything he does, and he pays little attention to his station in life or to the abundance of his possessions. These come to him in the course of his pursuit of God's will for him, and he neither wishes that they were more or fewer. They are not relevant to his happiness. This is not mere theory. I know this from experience.
However, this man's resignation will be sorely put to the test when, in our modern society, he finds few who sympathize with his passion for the kingdom of God, who look at him as anything but an anachronism, and who want to join him in his way of life. He may find himself living alone when he would prefer companionship, but this too is a circumstance in which to be content.
That the conscience is clear before God is the prerequisite for this kind of contentment. A compromised conscience will never be able to be content that God's will is being done in one's circumstances, because it will have no assurance that God's will was done in actions. When God is consulted in all matters of life, and obeyed in every decision, there is peace, joy and security—which, as I understand the matter, is what contentment looks like.
But I look forward to reading the answers!