TO FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY IS TO ACQUIRE CONTENTMENT AS WE GROW OLDER
In a third world country, a Jewish man complained to his rabbi: “Life is unbearable for me and my family. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The rabbi thought for a moment and answered, “Bring your goat into the room with you.” The man was taken aback but the rabbi insisted, “Do as I say and come back in one week.”
A week later the man came back more upset than before! “We cannot stand it,” the man protested. “The goat is filthy.” The rabbi told him, “Go home and let the goat out. Come back in a week.” Yet another week later, the man returned - excited and full of joy, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy our lives now. There’s no goat – just the nine of us.”
In practically every life situation, things could be worse than they seem. So, as Mama said to me: “Always look for the silver lining.”
In the Christian life, there are two ways to approach bad situations in which we find ourselves - contempt or contentment.
We can despise our situation or we can look for that silver lining, make a few adjustments, then proceed to make the most of our situation.
Vance Havner suggested three options when faced with seemingly unbearable situations: resign . . . be resigned to the situation as is . . . have your commission re-signed.
Time and again, the apostle Paul had his commission re-signed by remembering the who, what and why of his calling and by renewing his vow to stay the course to the finish.
Paul could have despised his situation, but he chose to believe that, in every situation in the Christian life, the Presence of Christ gives rise to contentment not contempt. So:
Paul stated the principle he had learned; he challenged fellow Christians to learn and live by that principle for the rest of their journey: True contentment is found by trusting the Lord in seemingly unbearable situations: Philippians 4:10-20 . . .
Here was the old apostle (who, before he met Christ, had been known for his hatred of Christians, but whose dramatic conversion to Christ followed by his dynamic commitment to spread the gospel, was met with hostility by Christian haters) speaking of his contentment.
It is rare to find a truly contented person but, as an old saying goes, “when you do, listen to him”! Amazingly, as with Paul, truly contented persons possess next to nothing materially. To illustrate this phenomenon, there’s an ancient parable:
Once upon a time, a king suffered from a painful ailment. His advisor told him that the cure was to find a contented man, get his shirt, and wear it. The king’s men traveled the whole of the kingdom, searching for such a man, intent on returning with his shirt.
Months passed as the servants looked high and low. One by one they returned, but none brought back the healing shirt. “Did you find a contented man in all my realm?” the king asked. “Yes, O king, we found one – just one, in all your realm,” they replied. “Why did you not bring back his shirt?” cried the king! “O great king,” they answered, “the man had no shirt.”
The Apostle Paul was much like the shirtless man - down to almost nothing materially, locked in a prison cell, facing the death sentence because he remained true to his calling to spread the Good News about Christ.
Despite dire circumstances, Paul was content because he had the strength of Jesus in his heart, and he trusted God for his provisions.
Paul thanked his fellow believers for their support, but more important to him was the fact that they still cared about the ministry of spreading the gospel.
Paul appreciated their gift, but he made it clear that God supplied his needs through them who had been willing to serve as instruments in God’s hands.
Neither plenty nor poverty was a big deal to Paul. He had depended on God since his encounter with Jesus, and would do so for the rest of life’s journey. “I can do this because of Christ who gives me strength and God who supplies my needs!”
With Christ in control of our lives, we can rise above dire circumstances, we can handle “these things” because Christ gives us strength and God supplies our needs!
So, we will not go on worrying . . . fretting . . . negatively thinking, expecting the worst! We will trust the Lord, lean not on our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge Him, through all our days let Him direct our paths! To do so is to rise above dire circumstances!
With God as Father, Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit as constant companion, the soul that is trusting Jesus has no reason NOT TO rise above the misery caused by unduly worrying about situations which clearly must be left where they belong – in God’s hands. “Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you”.
Furthermore! God will “take care” of the instigator of evil - Satan - by holding the Devil and his evildoers accountable for the havoc that they have wreaked on the human race from the beginning when the serpent slithered into paradise and reared its ugly head.
Not only does humanity suffer from the curse caused by Satan, but also the natural world. Both realms have been, still are, corrupted by disease, devastation, destruction, death. However!
Into God’s beautiful but imperfect world came our beautiful and perfect Savior . . . God’s one and only Son . . . God’s chosen One to do what? (to quote Fannie Crosby) . . . to “rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave”.
Into God’s beautiful but imperfect world came God’s beautiful and perfect Son (He who existed in the beginning with God, involved in creation, one day to become ruler of all nations, He who knew no sin in heaven or on earth) to redeem repentant mankind! “On the cruel cross He suffered, with His blood He purchased me, paid the debt and set me free!” “And if the Son sets you free, you have been set free indeed”! (John 8:36) How can this be?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)
“Sir, what must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:30-31)
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
“To all people, I have declared that everyone must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21) “Repent, then, and be saved!” (Acts 3:19)
Because God loved the world and sent His Son, because Jesus loved us and died for our sins, whosoever repents (says “no” to sin, says “yes” to God’s Son” can look forward to that glorious day when God’s Family will no longer dwell in this cursed and corrupted world.
The old world will pass away under the judgment of God (2 Peter 3:7) but, “in keeping with our Lord’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1)
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for love so great that You willingly died for our sins!
In commemoration of our Lord’s voluntary sacrificial suffering of His body and shameful shedding of His blood, we partake of the bread and the fruit of the vine as did He on the night in which He instituted this ritual of remembrance.
By observing the Lord’s Supper, we remember our Lord’s atoning sacrifice, we express our gratitude, and we renew our commitment to proclaim the Good News so that sinners may come to know Him whom to know is life eternal. Amen.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Prayer of Thanks:
Thanks be to thee, O God, for your great gift of love!
Thanks be to thee, O Christ, for sacrificing your body,
Thanks be to thee, O Lord, for shedding your blood - for the remission of our sins!
To God be the Glory! Amen.
Passing of the Elements:
As the wafers are passed, please take one and wait until everyone has been served. “In remembrance of our Lord’s sacrificial death on the Cross”!
As the cups are passed, please take one and wait until everyone has been served. “In remembrance of our Lod’s shed blood for the remission of our sins”!
Prayer of Commitment:
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen!” (St. Francis of Assisi)
Parting Words:
Go in peace! As you go, proclaim the Good News in word and in deed! Amen!
