The Dreamer and the Fool
There were once two farmers who lived as close neighbors on treacherous land. The soil there was hard and stubborn, and because of this it was common to grow only the most resilient crops—beans, mostly. One of the farmers often had adventurous dreams about creating raised gardens that could grow any kind of crop he wanted. He dismissed these dreams year after year, but they continued returning, becoming heavier on his mind.
One day, during casual conversation, he shared one of these dreams with his neighbor—more for entertainment than anything else. But as he told the story, the neighbor grew excited by the possibilities of what the dreamer had seen. The dreamer laughed it off the moment he finished. After all, they were stuck with the land they had. Nothing could be done about it.
The next day, the dreamer saw his neighbor outside spending hours building the very garden bed he had dreamt about. He shook his head, thinking the neighbor a fool for wasting time instead of tending the crops he already had. But the fool saw things differently. He knew beans didn’t require much care to thrive, so instead of standing idle, he used his extra time to try something new.
Weeks passed as the fool continued his work, ending each day by tending his simple crops. Months passed as the dreamer watched him labor with no clear reward. To the dreamer, all this effort would be fruitless—so why waste so much time?
A year later, the dreamer came out of his home and much to his surprise saw new plants growing—plants he had only ever seen in his dreams. Soon after, the fool began harvesting the fruits of his labor. The dreamer watched him enjoy his new life and longed to share in it. But whenever he asked for some of the new crop, the fool asked for an exchange. The dreamer had nothing but beans.
Resentment began to grow in his heart. He felt the fool owed him something for using his dream. That resentment slowly fermented into hatred, and the hatred into silence. Eventually they stopped speaking. Years passed, then decades. When the dreamer reached old age, he told his descendants about the sins of the fool, using it as a warning: it wasn’t just the land that was treacherous—the world itself would hurt them too. And so the family depended only on themselves from that point forward.
The Difference Between Complacency and Contentment
This week’s topic is contentment versus complacency. These two words feel similar, but in reality they could not be more different. They may use similar language, but they offer completely different outcomes. Through the lens of complacency, it is easy to see ourselves as victims of circumstance. Through contentment, we are able to enjoy life regardless of circumstance. One keeps us stagnant, while the other invites us to keep moving forward. One makes everything look the same; the other opens a sea of possibilities. One offers pain but calls it comfort. The other offers comfort but is often mistaken for pain. Life is a series of choices between the two, and as you will see, those choices dictate exactly how successful we become.
How Complacency Keeps Us Stagnant
Complacency is often confused with contentment, but its implications are drastically different. Like stagnant water, it begins to gather contaminants over time. When we choose complacency, we blame outside circumstances for our current state of being. While we encourage acceptance, we do not advocate stagnation. This is the danger of externalizing what is happening internally. It is easier to blame people and situations than to look inward.
This does not mean you deserve blame more than others, nor does it mean external circumstances don’t exist. But the reality is this: anything that exists outside God’s original plan only continues if we choose to keep it there. Any form of oppression, hardship, or depression can change the moment we choose to act. The problem is that complacency convinces us we are already trying. But complacency is never action. It is inward inaction disguised as outward effort.
Because of grace, we receive dreams of a reality that already belongs to us. But instead of pursuing them, we often give them away to others and then resent their success. If others fail, we use it to justify our inaction. If they succeed, we feel owed something—forgetting that we ourselves never took a single step toward the dream.
Contentment: The Freedom of Surrender
Contentment also involves acceptance, but instead of shutting ourselves off, we surrender control back to God. Like a river, it flows naturally and maintains purity. This surrender is what breaks the cycle of complacency. Contentment allows us to see beyond ourselves. It opens doors instead of closing them. It invites movement without regret and creates momentum toward a better future. Ironically, a content person does not even cling to this future—they understand that dreams often die, but God’s promises never do.
To the content person, only the present moment matters. Not because they are blind to time, but because they trust God with all of it. The outside world will call this foolishness, but this is the path of true peace. When we realize God is always in control, every moment becomes an opportunity, not a roadblock. In every situation, we learn to be content—and contentment itself becomes faith that our needs will always be met — Philippians 4:11.
Choosing Movement Over Stagnation
Many people believe something is “wrong” with the world. This is true. But let us not use this truth as an excuse to do nothing. Instead, let this awareness bring clarity: every moment passes. Everything good or bad has a season, but no season is forever. Only God is eternal — Revelation 21:1. Life is simply a series of choices. We do not control creation, but we are promised that God will provide for us.
This provision may not always look how we expect, but that is why we must remain content in all moments while continuing to move forward. Complacency keeps the door shut. Contentment opens it—one moment at a time. And when that moment comes, you can choose regret…or you can choose to step through.
Which will you choose today?
Lights & Truth 