How to Study the Bible + “I Have Learned to Be Content”
I Have Learned to be Content.
Last week, I heard myself say, “I am just hating this season so much…” :/ It actually kind of shocked me when those words came out of my mouth. How many times have I told others “Don’t despise the season…God is just working in ways you can’t see yet?” And, yet, all my preaching is “up in smoke” in my own desperate season.
Since that moment, I have had Paul’s words in Philippians 4:11 on my mind:
“For I have LEARNED in whatsoever season I am therewith to be content…”
Contentment is a learned state of mind. Contentment is not our natural bent. Our natural mind is always reaching for something “bigger,” “better,” more ideal. Our natural mind is always trying to peer into the future and view what we hope will be better than “right here,” “right now.” Our flesh has the desire to acquire…and discontent and dissatisfaction are states of mind that we easily sink into. And, because discontent is natural, we must LEARN contentment.
I have spent the last little while trying to define “content” and “contentment” with Thayer’s, Strong’s, Miriam Webster, Google, and the like. Honestly, it is a little challenging to pin down. “Content in Philippians 4:11 is Greek #842, and this is the ONLY time it is used in the Bible. It is defined as, “sufficient for oneself, strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support; independent of external circumstances; …contented with one’s lot, with one’s means, though the slenderest.” I don’t have time to write out all the other definitions I’ve read, but in essence, to be content is to be satisfied with what you actually have and to be satisfied with where you actually are. It is a settledness in the present. Contentment chooses to silence the voices of unmet desires and possibly even unmet needs, and chooses gratitude for what it indeed possesses.
Contentment is still and calm, even when my flesh is crying out “you need this…” or “you need that.” Contentment is a learned quality that has chosen to silence the voices that say, “When I get ___________, I will be happy,” “When I figure out ‘what’s next,’ I will be satisfied.” “When X,Y, or Z happens, then I’ll be ok.” “When God brings me to the fulfillment of calling, then I’ll be grateful.” NO. I learn contentment in the present moment…in the present set of circumstances…in present ownership…and in present means. It is a satisfaction with reality and a silencing of greed, lust, covetousness, and the like.
Contentment is largely about living in today.
I am seeing more and more clearly that one great kingdom principle is the “principle of today.” Jesus told His disciples: “Take therefore no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.” (Matthew 6:34) While our eyes are to be fixed on eternity, and while we do what we can to prepare for the future, our energies are best spent in today. As Elizabeth Elliot said, “It is today for which we are responsible, God still owns tomorrow.” The only piece of my life that I am assured of is the present. This moment, this day may be all I have. I must learn contentment that says, “Today is enough.” I will love today…live ‘all-in’ today…serve today…sacrifice today…be thankful for today…focus on those in my life today…I will “rock” today! It is what I actually have. I will be content with today. It is in giving my best to God and others today that unlocks my tomorrows. You see, ultimately “tomorrow” is also made up of “today’s,” and if I don’t learn to be still, settled, and content in this day, it is unlikely that I will be content in those days. God unlocks the future as I make the most of what I have now, and as I am “faithful in the little things.” (Luke 6:10) Living in today is one key to contentment.
Paul, who said, “I have learned…to be content,” wrote those words from custody. Whether he was in an actual prison or under house arrest, it was not the most pleasant circumstance of his life. The man who boldly declared that he had learned how to be content with a lot or a little was a man who had faced severe hardships and walked through many trials. He had learned contentment in the school of difficulty. How did he do that? As I read Philippians 4, several other keys “pop out” at me. In a few preceding verses, Paul had listed some attitudes that make contentment, in any circumstance, possible.
1. VV. 1-3: He is other’s focused. “You are my joy and the crown I receive for my work…” He goes on to show appreciation for a few specific fellow-laborers.
2. V. 4: He chooses to rejoice in the Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord always!” Everywhere! All the time! Be glad! Wear a smile! You can wear a smile and a cross at the same time. You can be cheerful, even when enduring great amounts of emotional, mental, or physical pain! Paul makes no exceptions. He simply says, “Rejoice…all-ways!”
3. V. 8: He says to pick your thoughts. Think on these things! Make a decision about the thoughts in your mind! Focus on noble, just, pure, lovely, commendable, virtuous, and praise-worthy things! We have the ability to choose the perspective of our thoughts. We can agonize over what we don’t have or we can appreciate and care for what we do have. We get to choose what we “think on,” and what we “think on” will largely determine our contentment level.
Ok…I got out of order.
4. VV. 6-7: He says, “Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything...with thanksgiving!” This is multi-layered. Paul is not offering suggestions. He is giving commands. Don’t worry. Instead, pray…talk to God about every need, request, burden, and care. But don’t just bring Him your “list.” Bring it with thanksgiving! Not the holiday, but the attitude. Being grateful for what we already, actually, in fact have is a major key to contentment. Major. Giving thanks fends off discontent. He carries on in V. 7 to say that this action of bringing needs w/thanksgiving will open the door for the peace of God to “keep” our hearts and minds.
Still out of order. Backing up to chapter 3…
5. 3:21: He reminds that we are citizens of heaven. Paul says, “we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He states that our “vile body” will then be fashioned like unto His glorious body…” I have never thought about this before, but likely, Paul had a body wracked with pain. From his writings, we knew he had endured many beatings, shipwreck, and other calamities, which undoubtedly had taken their toll on his physical frame. The hope of a glorified body and the hope of seeing his savior undoubtedly fueled his contentment in any state he found himself in. The hope of heaven makes contentment here possible. I can be calm in my “now,” because my hope is in my “then!”
In learning contentment, Paul has offered a few keys:
1. Focus on others
2. Rejoice always
3. Pick your perspective
4. Don’t worry about anything…pray about everything…with thanksgiving
5. Remember that this world is not my home
Thank you, Paul. If anyone had a reason to be discontented, it is you. Aged. Imprisoned. A body wracked with pain. The memories of your past that haunted you, and reminded you that you were the “chief of all sinners.” The weariness of years of travel. The burdens of the care of the churches. Abandonment by Barnabas, Demas, and others. Betrayal and beatings. Shipwrecks. Fighting’s within and fears without. Battling beasts at Ephesus. A “thorn in your flesh.” We could see a very different Paul. We could hear the words of a haggard, embittered man. But you learned contentment. You learned to trust the sovereignty of God when unforeseen circumstances arose. You chose to rejoice when you didn’t understand. You chose gratitude and set your eyes on heaven, and because of it, we hear no twinge of bitterness in your words. Instead, we hear the sweetness of a soul anchored in contentment…a soul at rest in the goodness of a gracious God. You go on to say: “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry; both to abound and to suffer need.”
Instruct here is #3453 – and this is the only time it is used in the Bible. It’s definition is so beautiful! “To initiate into the mysteries…to teach fully, instruct; to accustom one to a thing; to give one intimate acquaintance with a thing.” Thayer’s goes on to expound on Paul’s words: “to every condition, and to all the several circumstances of life have I become accustomed; I have been so disciplined by experience that whatsoever be my lot, I can endure…I have learned the secret…” of contentment.
What is one final secret of contentment? In the very next verse, Paul continues: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” How can we be content when our world is rocked and we are shaken to our core? How can we be still and settled, even when pain and questions surround us? It is in the simple fact that Christ gives me strength. He is the source. He is the supply. Paul had “plugged into” the Vine. Paul learned contentment because He knew that Christ would give him strength. He could thank, rejoice, and endure, because the flow of Christ’s resources was being channeled to him and settling him in the deepest places of his soul. Paul had been initiated into the great mystery of contentment. Contentment that defied reason or logic. Contentment not based on circumstances or possessions. Contentment based on the knowledge of whose he was. “I can be content through Christ who strengthens me.”
“I have learned…to be content.” –the Apostle Paul
In a world that is always reaching for bigger, better, God wants to bring us to a place of Gratitude for the things we have and settle us down in Himself and His unshakable love.
I close with one final word from Amy Carmichael, who said,