by Jerry Senn
"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."
— Philippians 4:11-13
To be content we must first experience life as it really is, without idealism or pretension. Contentment, as Paul discusses it, isn’t reliance on situations and circumstances, but upon a sound, biblical vision of what living for God involves. One of our problems with contentment arises when we allow disappointments to disturb our emotions.
Examples:
“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. Paul had the right idea when he said,” … I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” (Philippians 4:12, NIV).
One more example:
“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?’ Contentment is found when we have a correct perspective on life.”
M. Green