Contentment

This past week I was studying Philippians 4:11-13. For those who (almost all of us) don’t have those verses branded into your memory:

. . . 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 everything through him who give me strength.

Contentment seems to be a vanishing commodity in our society. People are always on the move looking for something higher, better, more this or less of that. The most compelling purchase tag for a product is “New & Improved!”

Now, I’m not advocating stagnation. There is certainly something to be said for “making something of yourself.” We should strive for excellence, but excellence is not what I’m talking about here. What this is about is the constant search for something new. It is simply motivated by boredom and not a striving for excellence.

It seems that Paul has learned something most of us have not, how to be satisfied in any and every situation. Paul’s life was not easy, not by a long shot. He was arrested and imprisoned for trying to tell people something as simple as God loved them. He was shipwrecked. He was beaten by those who did not want him to preach his message and left alongside the road for dead. He had been hungry and in need, and he had been well fed and cared for. He was well aware of both extremes.

It was not a situation where everything was comfortable for him. Contentment in the midst of extravagance and comfort doesn’t really count as contentment, does it? Many of us wish for even a few of life’s finer things. Paul says, “I have had them, and I’ve done without them. I can take ‘em or leave ‘em.” Most of us would choose to take them.

But what about this Paul? What is the secret to contentment in the midst of poverty, unemployment, loneliness, and upheaval? Unfortunately, he doesn’t give us a simple multi-step program to achieving contentment. He does give us a clue though. I HAVE LEARNED.

It wasn’t easy. It took lots of work. The road to contentment is not an interstate highway, complete with rest stops and lots of bathroom breaks. No, the road to contentment is an uphill struggle, recognizing what is of true importance. What Paul learned was there was something so much more important in life than things. Paul had a mission to carry the Gospel to a lost world. Once Paul had his life purpose revealed to him everything else fell into place.

God has a mission for you as well. It may not seem as grand or glorious as Paul’s calling to travel the world as a missionary, but it is just as important because it is yours. You may not find it easily, but when you do – you will find contentment as well.

Pastor Craig