Tag Archives: to be content

GLIMPSES OF PAUL – 6

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The next profound lesson for Paul, learned first from experience, and then taught to us, is also fundamental to life. Let him tell us what it is.

Philippians 4:11-13 NLT
[11]”Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. [12] I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. [13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

How unfortunate that we so often quote verse 13 out of context! Paul is specific about this lesson…contentment. What is contentment?

“Contentment is the state of being happy and satisfied….Contentment isn’t an excited kind of happy, it’s more like a peaceful ease of mind.”
(https://www.vocabulary.com)

Contentment is the antidote to discontent, a state of mind that drives people into all kinds of bad behaviour, even to criminal activities.

With what are we to be content… with adverse circumstances? No, with the one who controls, monitors, and directs our circumstances. You see, once again, contentment is the fruit of implicit confidence in the one who works in all things for our good.

Discontent is a pernicious attitude of distrust in God. When we are discontented with what is happening in our lives, we are saying to God, “You are being unfair; you are shortchanging me;  you don’t know what you are doing; you are not to be trusted!”

Wasn’t that Adam’s attitude in the Garden of Eden? Wasn’t it discontent that Satan sowed in his mind that led to his rebellion? Uncertainty about God’s love and intentions for him? Adam didn’t trust God enough to allow Him to set the rules that protected him, without explanation.

Can you see, then, how important  it is that we settle the issue of who orchestrates our circumstances?

Proverbs 19:21-23 NIV
[21] “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. [22] What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. [23] The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

When we are convinced that God is in charge, we will be satisfied with whatever He does and provides because He is always working for our good IN ALL THINGS.

Once again, discontent is an assault on our trust in God…and again, the solution is simple.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
[18] “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

A grateful heart puts our lives into perspective. We cannot be thankful and discontented at the same time since thanksgiving is the language of faith.

Contentment also takes care of our submission to the Lord and our obedience to His will. It will not be difficult to bow to His sovereignty if we are convinced of His goodness and His good intentions for us. So, if adversity is our lot for a while, we know that good will always be the end result.

Paul insists that this lesson, like all others tests of our faith, can only be learned successfully through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ in us. We will struggle and lose if we try to be contented without Him. Contentment is the fruit of a heart set on God and…a part of our character that can only grow through testing.

Philippians 2:14-16 NLT
[14] “Do everything without complaining and arguing, [15] so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. [16] Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”

CONTENTED IN ANY SITUATION

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CONTENTED IN ANY SITUATION

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:10-13.

Imagine living in a world with no e-mail and no internet banking! We have it so easy today that living in Paul’s day where the postal and banking services were carried out on foot, is unthinkable.

That makes Paul’s comments about being content in every circumstance even more amazing. Here he was, incarcerated in a high security prison in Caesar’s palace, shackled to a Roman soldier as though he were a dangerous criminal, cut off from the outside world, and especially from his friends and the churches that he loved so much, and he says he’s content! How could he be content in a situation like that?

Paul said that he had learned the secret. How did he learn it? He learned it through trusting God in his suffering. His story, recorded for us in the book of Acts, reads like a spy thriller. His mission was to bring the truth of God to people who were embroiled in idolatry and enslaved by their own depraved lives. Instead of being welcomed and his message believed, he was treated like a felon, hounded from one city to another, beaten, stoned, and imprisoned and his message discarded with contempt.

Paul’s message would sound to them as unlikely as the prisoners on death row beating up their warden and throwing him out when he opened all their cell doors and told them that they had been pardoned and that they were free to leave.

Paul had no idea what the next day would bring for him. Would he be taken for trial? Would he be released or executed? Did he have a future or was today his last day? And he was content! It makes no sense to anyone who does not understand God’s promises or have the security of knowing who he is in Christ.

What was this contentment of which Paul spoke and what was its source? It was the attitude of absolute trust in God no matter what happened because he knew that God was in charge. It was something he had to learn, not natural to him as a human being. It was a supernatural gift of God’s grace given to him in his utter weakness. It was the ability to relax and let God take care of things for him because he was powerless to change anything.

How did Paul learn this attitude of quiet trust in the turbulence of his life? He learned it by trusting God before, in, and after the storm, when he could look back and see a pattern that revealed the hand of God over his life. Every bad patch he went through strengthened his conviction that it was okay to relax because God was there, until nothing fazed him no matter what life dished up to him. He was at peace in the knowledge that, even if they took his life, he was still secure in Christ.

Discontentment is evidence that we believe that God is being unfair and that He has short-changed us. We look at others and envy them for their circumstances, their gifts, their jobs, their position, their influence, their wives, husbands, children and…and…and! We chafe when life is hard. We can’t wait for this, that or the other to happen. We are always borrowing from tomorrow  instead of living fully today.

Paul measured the slowness of the Philippians’ response to his needs against his ability to be at peace in jail, and he could reassure them that he understood their situation and that it was okay with him because he was not driven by his circumstances or his needs. They did what they couldm and he appreciated their concern for him. What they could not do did not matter because his heart was at peace.

Out of the depth of his own suffering, and the confidence in his heavenly Father that suffering had taught him, Paul could say, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” 1 Timothy 6;6-8.

There are three non-negotiable obligations for every believer in Jesus: to protect love, preserve unity and promote contentment. Imagine if these were the characteristics of every body of believers in the world!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.