Philippians 4:10-14 The Message
Content Whatever the Circumstances
10-14 I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Sometimes we have the distinct pleasure of meeting a non believer or Christian who just exudes calm, peace, and contentment even though they are living with physical, mental, spiritual limitations or ailments that are difficult and painful.
Or maybe they are facing, have faced heart-wrenching tragedy in the past—and yet there they are, almost serene in their faith and utterly joyful on every level.
When we see such people, we sometimes conclude that God must have wired them really well.
We figure that such people must have been born right side, sunny-side up with a personality and disposition that naturally lends itself to a contented nature.
But if we think or believe that way, we are usually wrong.
Talk to such folks long enough, and you will discover what Paul wrote to the Philippian followers: their contentment is a hardcore, hard learned behavior.
You are not born with it. It does not come easily for anyone. But by grace we grow, we learn, we mature. And as we do, contentment becomes a way of life.
But it is not inevitable.
Many of us know someone who got trapped by their suffering long ago.
For a time, they turned inward and curdled into an angry, resentful person.
Not one of us can ever avoid some level of pain, hardship, or deprivation in life.
Our prayer is that when we find ourselves facing such difficult times, we can learn what Paul learned over the long haul: a contentment anchored in Christ.
Have I Really Learned How to be Contented in Christ?
Philippians 4:11-13 New Living Translation
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,[a] who gives me strength.
From something to nothing.
From nothing to something.
From everything back to nothing.
From nothing thrust into everything.
But, can we really expect to have quite literally everything?
And still genuinely claim that we are content with our measure of success?
We live in a society permeated by discontent.
All kinds of Commercials condition us to be envious.
Can we be happy and content if we cannot afford those $$$$$$ Tesla vehicles?
Can we be content with even those “pseudo-cheap” electric cars or hybrids that are not big enough to hold a growing family and all of those groceries they need that will not travel more than a couple of hundred miles without recharging it?
Can we stand to be so limited in our abilities to go on those nice vacations which are well beyond the driving range of those tiny electric cars, and the insufficient numbers of charging stations for us to plug into when we’ll finally get ourselves to the middle of nowhere where there is nothing but peace, joy, contentment?
Can we be content with living in apartments when our dream is to buy a house but we cannot afford even an “as is house” because “as is” costs far too much?
The real issue, though, is not so much how we are limited or not limited by the financial bounds of society we live in but the state of our own hearts and minds.
Truth: we are drawn away from contentment by so much of “what our hearts desire” which clamors for our attention: titles, possessions, influence, or fame.
Yet all of these and more seek to rob us of any sense of joy in what our God has given us, persuading us that it will never be enough -the chase is never-ending.
Paul, though, from chief Pharisee to Roman jails could say not only that he was merely content but that he could be fully content “in whatever situation I am.”
This is what everyone is searching for!
What was the secret, then?
It was to ground his sense of self and his outlook on life in the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul didn’t champion a stiff upper lip in the face of hardship or offer a false gospel of self-sufficiency.
No, his contentment was the removing himself from everything, a result of bowing his heart and mind to God’s will, no matter what conditions he faced.
Philippians 3:7-9 New Living Translation
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
Not everyone has lived on both sides of the street.
Not everyone wants to live on both sides of the street.
Not everyone knows how the other half lives.
Not everyone wants to know how the other half lives on the other side.
Not everyone needs to know how the other half lives on the other side.
But Paul did.
He knew what it was to be successful, rich, educated, respected, warm and fed, he knew what it was to be cold and naked, beaten many times to within an inch of his life, threatened with his life, to be killed, and thrown into a Roman jail.
If he had derived contentment from his circumstances, his life would have been a constant roller-coaster ride, leaving him intoxicated by all of those wonderful luxuries one minute and thoroughly overwhelmed by their absence in the next. (Acts 9:1-19)
Under the weight of such an extreme life condition and transition, such a fickle spirit could, would have, neutralized Paul, making him unable to serve Christ.
Paul was a normal man with normal needs.
In a letter to Timothy from a dungeon in Rome, Paul wrote, “Do your best to come to me soon ….. Bring the cloak ..… the books, and above all the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:9, 13).
He had been deserted by others and lacked certain possessions.
Yes, Paul wanted things like clothing, books, and company—but he knew he would be fine without them, for his peace rested in something much greater.
Like the Apostle Paul, my own contentment, your contentment can and should ultimately be grounded in your union with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Refuse any worldly ambition other than the eternal ambition of belonging to Him alone remaining entirely unequivocally in His will and at His full disposal.
When you know Christ, how wonderful He is—that He is your all in all, more precious than silver, more costly than gold, more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing you have compares to Him[1]—the way you view your circumstances, and the measure of your contentment will be completely, finally transformed.
1 Lynn DeShazo, “More Precious Than Silver” (1982).
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 16 English Standard Version
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
A Miktam[a] of David.
16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.[b]
4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.[d]
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being[e] rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.[f]
11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Some days, dear God, we confess that our needs seem to outnumber our resources. But whatever the day brings, whether in our richness or from our poverty, from our healthiness or infirmity, in the end, help us to be content and joyful in you. In Christ, Amen.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
