“… give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” Proverbs 30:7-8
Years ago after the sad and tragic death of Robin Williams I remember
reflecting on the number of celebrities and millionaires who have taken their own lives or lost their lives to drugs or alcohol. It is ironic to me that a society that elevates riches and fame to such an extraordinary level loses so many of its “success stories” to bouts of depression or self-destruction
In the verses above the writer asks God to save him from his own dissatisfaction. He basically says he cannot handle poverty or riches and asks God to keep him from them because of his weaknesses. But the key to life is not to change our circumstances to fit our strength but to be strengthened to fit our circumstances. When I first started coaching a long-time head coach told me to always win around 75% of the games each season. He said that that was enough to keep people satisfied and not too much for them to have expectations. That would give me longevity in coaching. What a terrible philosophy! I see a similar philosophy in the verses above. 
The attitude of “Don’t give me too little or too much because I can’t handle it” is an effort to be successful without stress. Striving for mediocrity is not striving at all. The apostle Paul had the exact opposite approach.
“I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content–whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.” Philippians 4:12
Paul was able to handle both poverty and riches, both want and plenty, both rejection and acceptance. That is a much better thing to be able to do because we cannot control our circumstances and it is a shame to let them control us. How was Paul able to live in satisfaction in every condition? He tells us in the next verse.
“I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Circumstances change, Christ never does. If we are going to lean on something, it should be something solid. Jesus is the Rock, the Cornerstone, the Solid Place because He is 
foundational and nothing else in this world is. There is an old hymn that says, “My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.” Too many build their lives on the sinking sand of riches, fame, and power. But none of those can bring contentment. Robin Williams lived to bring happiness to the world, but the world could not bring enough happiness to Robin to make him want to live. Only one person can do that.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:9-10
To stay strong in this world we must realize that happiness and contentment are not necessarily the same thing although we use the terms causally and interchangeably. Contentment is the ability to accept our life regardless of where we find ourselves. It is seeing a fulness in life where others may not see it. 
In Christ we can determine to be content without “having it all.” Happiness is often based on the high points on the roller coaster of life that will be followed, inevitably, by low points. Paul recognized that. I am sure that he was not happy about being starved, beaten, and shipwrecked, but within himself could still find contentment in Christ. He knew that Jesus came to give us abundant life, not by changing the conditions of world to fit our desires, but by changing us to be able to handle the conditions of the world. As Paul told Timothy…
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” I Timothy 6:6-7
But no matter how much we try, we will never achieve contentment on our own. We just aren’t wired that way.
“Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.” Ecclesiastes 1:7-8
“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!” Haggai 1:5-7
No truer words depict the condition of the world in which we live. People are never satisfied. No matter what, we can never achieve contentment outside of God. We will always want more, we will always want different. We may be rich, but we want to be richer. One of the richest men in the world was once asked how much is enough and he responded, “It’s never enough.” That is what the world says but the Word tells us that “Christ is enough.” Live in abundance; live in Him.