DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- LEARNING CONTENTMENT

LEARNING CONTENTMENT

"But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Philippians 4:10-12)

Remember the ad that claimed their milk came from contented cows? Why were they contented? Was it because they had a fancy barn or gourmet grass? I think that just having simple pasture-land was their source of contentment.

Philippians is one of the "prison epistles," written from Rome while he was awaiting trial. His state was one of chains, confinement, and lacking some of the better things of life. The "state" he was in was not very pleasant. Yet he did not complain. He rejoiced that the church at Philippi had sent some support, but he makes it plain that his contentment did not rest in the externals.

Two times in this passage, he said that he had "learned" to be content. How do we learn contentment? Paul had discovered that his joy did not depend on people or circumstances. The state of contentment is in our mind and in our spirit. Our outward situation may not be agreeable. But that is not a prerequisite for contentment. Contentment is a state of mind that trusts God and leaves the rest to Him. We can rest in God's provision for us.

Our society is proof that contentment does not come by having material things. We as Americans have more than we know what to do with. Yet people are always grasping for more – a bigger house, a newer car, a larger bank account. Being deprived of the creature comforts of life might teach us that we can be content in our spirit even if our temporal desires are not satisfied.

Knowing that God is our source – that he can supply all of our needs according to His riches – and knowing that He has a purpose for what we are going through can teach us to rest in Him and His goodness. That is true riches. It is a blessed person who can say, "In poverty or in abundance, in hunger or with a full stomach, I am content." May we learn to be content with God.

Love, Dad