God told the prophet Habakkuk, “an arrogant man is never at rest” (Hab 2:5 CSB).
Why?
The answer to this question might be one of the most important things we can learn from the Bible today.
Consuming, Never at Rest
An arrogant man is never at rest because “He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied” (Hab 2:5 CSB).
In context, this arrogant man refers to the king of Babylon who is never satisfied with what he has conquered. So he never rests, always wants more land and more people to master.
For us who live in an age of consumer capitalism, we have to ask an uncomfortable question about how God defines arrogance here.
Why is an arrogant man never at rest? Because he always wants more.
If arrogance means that our appetites or desires for more are never satisfied, then might our characteristic respectable sin involve always wanting more but never being satisfied with more?
We upgrade our phones every year or two. We buy new gadgets, appliances, and objects that that please us.
But the very fact that our homes accumulate more and more things every month betrays a subtle implication: we keep getting more stuff—and what we have never seems to satisfy.
Satisfied, Awaiting Our Rest
The humble man by contrast seeks to enter into the rest of God (Heb 4:11). As David tells us, “You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Ps 145:16). In context, David speaks about satisfying the needs of every living (Ps 145:15).
But it is not true that God gives us every uncontrolled desire that we have. The Bible tells us to crucify the desires and passions of the flesh (Gal 5:24).
Crucifying our fleshly desires does not mean crucifying our desire for joy and happiness. Far from it. We are saved in hope which leads to joy inexpressible (1 Pet 1:8).
The point is that consuming more things can never satisfy us. It is arrogant to live that way because we do not trust God to provide what we truly need, to satisfy our deepest desires.
Augustine once said, “Our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.” So it is.
And while we find rest in God, the fullness of that rest lies ahead of us.
Contentment, not in Things but in God
And while we wait here below, we must learn that “God, the Lord, is my strength” (Hab 3:19). We do not need more and more things to satisfy.
The habit of accumulating more will make us addicted to consuming stuff. But God wants us to find satisfaction in his strength, not ours.
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have” (Heb 13:5). And remember Pau’s words too: “godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Tim 6:7–8).
Why is an arrogant man never at rest? Because he always wants more. But God promises to give you everything already. Find your satisfaction in him. Learn contentment now.
And practically, start living your life by detaching yourself from things for the sake of gaining new things. You do not need the newest tech. You do not need nicer things. You do not need the newest car. You need what you need; be content with that, remembering that “godliness with contentment is great gain.”
