“Living A Joy-full Life: Live with Contentment”
Phil. 4:10-13
Two little teardrops were floating down the river of life. One teardrop asked the other, “Who are you?” “I am a teardrop from a girl who loved a man and lost him. But who are you?” The first teardrop replied, “I am a teardrop from the girl who got him.” Life is like that. We cry over the things we can’t have, but we might cry twice as hard if we had received them. (i) That’s why Paul had the right idea when he said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” But we all know that being content is a lot easier said than done. That’s why we need to listen to Paul’s teaching - so we, too, can learn to live with contentment.
Paul teaches, first, about THE SOURCE OF CONTENTMENT. “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.” Paul LEARNED A LESSON ABOUT CIRCUMSTANCES. He used his current circumstances as a reference point. Verse 10 implies that Paul had some low points in his imprisonment and might have wondered about the lack of love and support from his beloved Philippian church. But they had finally responded; he now realizes they weren’t able to any earlier. But he wanted them to know that even if they had not responded he would have been content. After all, during his adventuresome lifetime he had experienced both need and plenty.
He knew about NEED. (2 Cor. 11:23-29 GNT) “I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.”
But Paul also knew about PLENTY. Prior to his conversion to Jesus Christ, he had lived a good, upstanding Jewish life and lacked little. He also knew the plenty in terms of God’s provision. (2 Cor. 11:32-33 GNT) “When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.”
And through all of these circumstances Paul had learned about contentment. The word ‘learned’ means he was initiated into contentment. His circumstances, over time, all combined to teach him. So Paul wants us to learn from our circumstances. Have you ever said, or heard said, “I’m okay – under the circumstances?” Paul would ask, “Why are you under your circumstances? Why not get on top of them?” In other words do not let your circumstances control or dominate you. The word Paul uses for contentment means ‘contained.’ Paul teaches that the resources for contentment are contained within us. CONTENTMENT IS A CHOICE. There are two types of people in life. Some are thermometers. They merely reflect the temperature around them and react according to it. Others are thermostats and set the temperature using the resources within them. When it comes to handling the circumstances of life, we each have a choice to make.
Fanny Crosby, the great writer of Gospel songs, was blinded at the age of six weeks by a country doctor who thought he was treating her with eye-drops. Yet even at an early age, Fanny chose not resignation but contentment. When she was eight years old she wrote a brief poem: “Oh, what a happy child I am, Although I cannot see! I am resolved that in this world Contented I will be.” (ii) Contentment is a choice. A Puritan sat down to his meal and found that he had only a little bread and some water. His response was to exclaim, “What? All this and Jesus Christ, too!” (iii) Contentment is a choice. Paul was in chains, awaiting a verdict on his life. His response? “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ... I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Contentment is a choice.
Contentment is not dependent upon external circumstances. CONTENTMENT IS A STATE OF MIND AND HEART. Too often we convince ourselves that we will be content “If only...” If only I had a better job; if only I had more money; if only my spouse would love me more; if only my parents would let me…; if only I could buy…If only, if only, if only. Contentment does not result from having more, or having what others have, or being liked by everyone or even by certain people.
Paul’s source of contentment came from the fact the HE EMBRACED A TRUTH ABOUT GOD. True contentment only comes from faith and trust in God our Father who sent His only Son to die for us. Paul believed and trusted in THE OVERWHELMING PROVIDENCE OF GOD. Our word for providence comes from the root ‘pro’ – before – and ‘video’ – to see. It means to see to it beforehand. God is always seeing to it beforehand. The Heidelberg Catechism defines it this way (#27): “Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty – all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.”
Perhaps the clearest illustration of this overwhelming providence comes in THE LIFE OF JOSEPH in the book of Genesis. Joseph's brothers envied him and sold him as a slave when he was only seventeen years old. He was taken to Egypt, and there God revealed that seven years of famine were coming after seven years of plenty. It was through Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams that this fact was discovered. Because of that, Joseph was elevated to the position of second ruler in Egypt. After twenty years of separation – during which Joseph was betrayed again and even falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned – Joseph's brothers were reconciled to him as Joseph told them what the Lord had done: "Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people's lives." (Gen. 45:5 GNT). "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Gen. 50:20). This is the providence of God: His hand ruling and overruling in the affairs of life. Paul experienced this divine providence in his life and ministry as well, and he was able to write, "We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose." (Rom. 8:28 GNT). And for Paul now in prison it was God in His providence that caused the church at Philippi to become concerned about his needs, and it came at the very time Paul needed their love most! LIFE IS NOT A SERIES OF ACCIDENTS; IT IS A SERIES OF APPOINTMENTS. (Ps. 32:8) "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." (Gen. 22:14) Abraham called God "Jehovah-Jireh," meaning "the Lord will see to it." (John 10:4). "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." (iv) This is the overwhelming providence of God, our only source of contentment.
Since Paul believed and trusted in the overwhelming providence of God, he claimed the attitude I CAN ACCEPT ALL THINGS. “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” The Heidelberg Catechism (#26) puts it poignantly: “I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.” But this acceptance and trust is not just a ‘give up and move on’ mentality. It’s not a stoical “It is what it is.” Rather, it’s an attitude of faith that motivates our behavior. As the Catechism #28 puts it, because of this trust: “We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.”
Francis de Sales, writing in the sixteenth century, links contentment to the providential care of God. He sees it as God's supreme gift. He compares our relationship with God to that of a child going out for a walk. He pictures a child strolling along a country lane, hanging on to his or her parent with one hand, while happily picking blackberries and wild strawberries with the other. And that is how it should be, says Francis. God wants us to delight in the world. But, he warns, we should be careful not to get distracted or greedy, and attempt to accumulate too many things on our journey through life. If we let go of God's hand in order to pick more and more strawberries we will end up flat on our face: 'Throughout your life, learn to trust in the providential care of God, through which alone comes contentment. Work hard, but always to cooperate with God's good designs. Let me assure you, if you trust all to God, whatever happens will be the best for you, whether at the time it seems good or bad to your own judgment...God will work with you and in you and for you throughout your life. And at the last you will know that you have not labored in vain, and be filled with a profound contentment that only God can give.” (v)
Paul learned that the source of contentment lies in the heart and mind. We can choose to believe in the overwhelming providence of God - that enables us to accept all things. But in addition to the source of contentment Paul said we also need to grasp THE SECRET TO CONTENTMENT. (12b-13) “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 this through him who gives me strength.” The secret lies with THE EVER PRESENT POWER OF GOD. The power for contentment is not human power – it is divine power. Listen to how the various translations phrase the secret: (GNT) “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.” (TLB) “I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.” (AMP) “I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.” (Phillips) “I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me.”
It brings to mind Paul’s reflection upon the tough circumstances of his life. After writing about the thorn in his flesh that he repeatedly asked God to remove, he wrote (2 Cor. 12:7-10): “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Because of this ever present power of God through Jesus Christ within him, Paul said I CAN DO ALL THINGS. Years ago newspapers all over the country carried the story of Arnold Lemerand of Southgate Michigan. For six years Arnold had avoided picking up anything heavy because he had suffered a heart attack. But when he saw a 5 year-old boy pinned beneath an iron pipe, Arnold lifted the pipe and freed the boy. The pipe weighed 1800 pounds. God made our bodies in such a way that they can respond in amazing ways during times of stress and danger. Through His Holy Spirit God does the same thing in us spiritually. Paul says not that he can do literally ALL things, but he can do what ALL THINGS he needs to do, those things God asks him to do.
When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade I must have had this verse as a memory verse in Sunday School. What I remember is walking to school thinking about this verse. I was contemplating that if I can do all things then I ought to be able to lift up the car next to me – because Jesus is in me. Fortunately I didn’t try to lift the car! I had not yet learned – been initiated into – the full meaning of doing all things – that when a situation is about to overcome us, when a situation demands spiritual strength beyond the norm, JESUS STRENGTHENS US with a strength for that situation.
During the Great Depression in the early 1930s a panel of speakers, including Clarence Darrow, the distinguished attorney and professed atheist, were addressing a meeting of people from Chicago’s Southside—most of them African American. The economic conditions were at their worst: money and jobs were scarce and Darrow used that fact to point out the plight of the African American people. He summed up their woes, concluding, “And yet you sing? No one can sing like you do! What do you have to sing about?” Quick as a flash, a lady in the congregation shouted, “We got Jesus to sing about!” And her response was followed by many “Amens” and “Yeses” and “That’s rights.” Uncharacteristically, Darrow for once was stopped dead in his tracks. He had no response, for he was face to face with that which cannot be rationalized, hardly even talked about, in human terms—people who can sing through tears and above their fears because they walk with the One who strengthens them to do all things. (vi)
Marshall Shelley, editor of Leadership Journal, wrote about his father-in-law who is a Kansas farmer. Marshall says his father-in-law spent a lifetime raising wheat, corn, milo, beef, and along the way some sheep and chickens. One morning while Marshall followed him around the farm as they talked about the differences between city living and a rural lifestyle. His father-in-law said, "Most city folks I know expect each year to be better than the last. They think it's normal to get an annual raise, to earn more this year than you did last year. As a farmer, I have good years and bad years. It all depends on rain at the right time, dry days for harvest, and no damaging storms. Some years we have more; some years we have less." (vii)
“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” In the varying seasons of life, in our times of plenty and need, we always have a choice. We can be a thermometer or a thermostat. We can fuss and fume or we can be content and do all things through Jesus who strengthens us. Do you believe in the overwhelming providence of God that allows you to accept all things? Do you trust in the ever present power of God that allows you to do all things?
Receive the affirmation and challenge of God through Isaiah (41:28-31 GNT): “Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. He strengthens those who are weak and tired. Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.” God is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father. Let us lift up our hearts to Him.
(i) Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Edited by Michael P. Green, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI 49516, © 1989 by Michael P. Green, #245
(ii) Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, & Quotes, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, © 2000 by Robert J. Morgan, p. 146
(iii) Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, #248
(iv) This summary come from the Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament - The Bible Exposition Commentary – New Testament, Volume 2.
(v) Robert Atwell, Soul Unfinished, Paraclete Press, Brewster Mass., © 2012 by Robert Atwell
111-112)
(vi) Dunnam, M. D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians / Colossians / Philemon (Vol. 31, p. 316). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
(vii) Marshall Shelley, editor of Leadership Journal, Leadership Weekly(11-30-10) – from www.preachingtoday.com
