Philippians Ch 4 verse 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I have often thought that to be content is a great position to be in. Not striving for more, not envious of others, not moaning or complaining about our lot in life, but just content with what we have. I have often said to my children that ‘all you need is enough’, enough for today, tomorrow and for the future when it comes.
Sadly, society has drilled into us the feeling that we need to have everything planned out for the future now. Pensions, investments, savings are the language of a society trying to cover every eventuality with regards to the future. The result is that it becomes hard to trust in the enough of today whilst worrying about tomorrow.
Paul makes an important point here, he has ‘learned to be content’, it did not just happen. This learning process probably encapsulated the whole of his Christian life, through his experiences of seeing God at work and slowly trusting him more and more. Paul experienced both persecution and blessing, he saw the miraculous and yet lived a life constantly moving from place to place, with no obvious place to call home.
All of this and more were part of the learning process that meant he could say that he had ‘learned to be content whatever the circumstance’. With the root of this coming from the trust that he had in God, and the knowledge that all of this life is transitory.
Dear Lord Jesus, help us to learn from you, to trust you in the highs and the lows, and to enjoy the enough of today without worrying about the needs of tomorrow.
Amen
Photo by Nora Hutton on Unsplash