Being Content in All Things
Lenten Devotional Series Day 36. Today’s meditation is on Philippians 4:10-13.
The Apostle Paul echoes the 10th Commandment in his letter from prison to the church in Philippi:
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
It’s easy for us to take a cynical view of Paul’s ability to be content in “any and every circumstance.” We might suppose Paul’s contentment to be either unattainable or rather some sort of bland, lesser state. Is Paul’s contentment actually a euphemism for not really having any highs or lows anymore, or wearing a Zen-like mask through the vicissitudes of life? Not at all. Paul’s picture of contentment has almost nothing to do with having your desires or your ability to feel highs and lows emptied out of you. Instead of emptying ourselves of certain sinful tendencies, we are redirected to fill ourselves up with strength from the Lord. It is this influx of God and His power that Paul describes as “the secret” to facing any set of circumstances.
Further, Paul’s testimony of contentment does nothing to deny that both struggles and abundance will come. Instead, he shifts his own focus—and calls us likewise to shift ours—from the circumstances God allows in our lives to the tools that God gives us to face them. The most exciting element of God’s provision is not in the gifts or lack of gifts found in any one set of worldly circumstances. (This is not to say that God doesn’t gift us or isn’t intimately involved in our everyday lives.) Rather, God’s provision for us as His people is not *primarily* the less or the plenty but the strength to face anything. Paul is content whenever he shifts his measure of God’s goodness and the anchor for his own attitude from the quality of his earthly life to the character of his heavenly Father.
Trusting in the goodness of the gifts rather than the goodness of the Giver is a ready temptation. It’s easy to feel blessed when we have much or, at least, when we have what we expected. Likewise, it’s easy to feel “less than blessed” when we face lean times in relationships, finances, or health. But the reality that Paul calls us to tap into and live out of is that we are blessed in every circumstance with a God who has laid Himself down for us, indwells us, and sustains us in all things. Trusting in the goodness of God, His steadfastness, and His real love for and joy over us offers us a strength that no worldly abundance can offer—a foundation for contentment that is unrivaled.
Today in prayer, begin with the Collect of the Day (below). Then reflect with the Lord on your own contentment. Confess any envy, covetousness, or dissatisfaction with God. Ask him to fill you with his strength. Put your trust in his goodness and love. Then conclude with the Lord’s Prayer.
Collect of the Day. Almighty God, we ask you mercifully to look upon your people; that by your great goodness they may be governed and preserved for ever, both in body and soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.