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To the Philippians Paul wrote: "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. " From this we can gather three things: Contentment is a Learned State Contentment is not about Possessions or Circumstances Contentment Comes from Learning to Appreciate What you Have in Christ
The secret of contentment follows from these three spiritual truths. First, in difficult circumstances and in prosperity, we have opportunity to learn contentment. We don’t find contentment in circumstance, but circumstance, whether humble or prosperous, is our classroom. You don’t have to look very hard to see that prosperity doesn’t always lead to contentment. In fact, it never does. That’s the lie of the American dream:
On the other hand, difficult circumstance doesn’t necessarily lead to sainthood, either. That’s the lie of pre-enlightenment church, that suffering produces character, but it’s still alive in America, for sure. Suffering doesn’t produce character; obedience to God produces character. It may be obedience to God in the midst of suffering, yes. But that’s an entirely different thing. The secret is that our circumstance is the opportunity we have to learn contentment. Without difficult circumstance, we would have no opportunity for faith. That’s a simple idea most of us run from at the first opportunity. The second part of the secret is that Jesus chose a path that was difficult, and he struggled with it, but he stayed with God in the struggle. Likewise, we have the opportunity to choose to find God the way Paul did: he recognized his stay in prison, for example, as an opportunity to illustrate God’s truth. And we have all got those prisons. We all have those areas we may not be delivered from in the natural. He will speak to us in those places if we want to hear him. I’m not talking about hearing God in every little piece of news that blows your way, or anything like that. I’m talking about discerning his voice, what he is calling you to do. This requires you to be in relationship, to discern with people who know you. But you can sometimes get a sense of it—especially when you begin by asking. Does that sound mystical? Maybe. But I suggest that Paul has learned this secret by practicing. He has chosen to view his reality from the perspective of appreciating that what he has in Christ is not contingent on his circumstance. The paradox is that once he does that, he is able to fully engage in his circumstance. Our faith does not offer escape. It doesn’t take us over or under, or out: it takes us through. On Sunday Milind at the 5pm service Milind mentioned that our natural inclination is to cling to financial security, while the only real security is found in Jesus, at that table back there. Well tonight I would like to suggest the following. Take a few minutes to consider your circumstance. What is the situation that you feel hung up on, that you feel God is simply outside of. What is the thing hanging you up. Or what is the prosperity you need to give back to God? Take the paper you found on your chair and write about it for a few minutes. Just write it out. And when you’re done, in the next worship set, take the paper back and lay it on the altar in the back of the room. Set it down: not to let go of it, but to ask God to speak to you about it. (time to write) Next week you’ll find what you wrote there. Don’t worry: no one will read it in the meantime. But in the next week you’ll come back and read it again, and see if you have any new sense of God’s presence in that circumstance: and we’ll take it from there.
--Todd Dorman
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