“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 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. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:12-13
I saw a man in the supermarket yesterday using a new sporty wheelchair. When he zipped down the aisle, his chair didn’t make a squeak. I looked down at my big clunky twenty-year-old model with dirt on the frame and threadbare padding. Little wonder I looked with envy at his high-tech wheels.
I’d like a trade-in on my wheelchair. Perhaps you would like a trade-in on your old car. Perhaps the grass seems greener down the street where they are building brand new homes. Yes, an automatic garage door opener and a trash compactor would be great to have. But sometimes when we compile our desires up against God’s desires for us, I wonder how many match.
The apostle Paul says that he has learned the secret of remaining content despite either plenty or poverty. What was the secret Paul had learned? He gave it away in his next breath when he said that he was ready for anything through the strength of the One who lived inside him.
Contentment is found not in circumstances. Contentment is found in a Person, the Lord Jesus.
It requires a special act of grace to accommodate ourselves to every condition of life, to carry an equal temper of mind through every circumstance. On the one hand, only in Christ can we face poverty contentedly, that is, without losing our comfort in God. On the other hand, only in Christ can we face plenty and not be filled with pride.
Lord, there are many things I desire, but I really don’t need. Subtract my desires and keep me from adding my own wants. Help me to find satisfaction in You, for only then will I find real and lasting contentment.
