“…I have learned the secret of being content…” (Phil. 4:12).
On a scale of 1 to 10, how content are you? Would you say that you are quite content, generally content, or, honestly, seldom content? Most of us would rate ourselves between 5 and 7, but there are those whose answer could peg the 10 mark and yet be honest. Such a one was a world traveler who wrote, “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” (Phil. 4:12).
His name, Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ! Today, very few can honestly make such a statement. Having made a rather broad claim, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,” Paul goes one step further and qualifies the statement, including times when he was well-fed, and times when he was hungry; times when he was well-situated financially and times when money was scarce.
Go to a conference or a camp and listen to the comments of diners who don’t like the meals. Ever hear comments like, “If an army travels on its stomach, that meal would certainly bring it to its knees!” or remarks equally cutting?
Few people have really learned the secret of contentment. Some perpetually look on the dark side of things no matter how positive things may be. I’m thinking of the woman who said she always felt bad when she felt good because she knew that eventually she would feel bad again!
Where was Paul when he wrote those sweeping statements? In a beautiful condominium overlooking the blue Mediterranean? Hardly! In a resort hotel sipping a glass of lemonade as he dictated his thoughts to a pretty young secretary? The fact is, the man who said he had learned the secret of contentment was in Rome under house arrest, if not chained to a Roman guard in Mamertine prison. What brings contentment and happiness? That question was posed to a group of people who were asked to rate certain factors. What was most sought after was (1) Marital happiness (a good marriage and a loving partner). (2) Adequate finances–enough money to pay the bills without stress and do what you want without fear of straining an overburdened budget–not an unworthy goal in a proper context. (3) Health and self-esteem. (4) Fulfillment in your work or calling, and (5) A good environment, which may include where you live and the weather that encompasses your geographic locality.
Yet all five of these things were denied to the man who said he had learned the secret of happiness. Obviously, Paul had learned something which has escaped most of us today. He had learned what Jesus taught: “Be on guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
Is contentment a goal which we reach through the accumulation of things, including the adornment of a pretty wife or a handsome husband, a summer villa or condominium on the Mediterranean? If there is enough money in the bank, can I be reasonably content, or are we looking for it in the wrong place? Contentment, Paul believed, is not dependent on circumstances, but on the inner attitude of the heart which places value on things money cannot buy. Could this, friend, be the reason Paul could peg his contentment at 10 on the meter of life and ours would be perhaps half of that? Learn how you can say with him, “I have learned that in whatever state I am, therewith to be content,” because you have discovered that God is enough.
Resource reading: Philippians 4.
