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.
It would be like 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 and that it was okay because he was not driven by his circumstances or his needs. They did what they could 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.