Content

I know many (or most) are looking forward to the end of 2020. It has been a difficult year in a variety of ways. We all have dealt with adjustments: working or school from home, loss of work, isolation, depression, loneliness, canceled plans and trips, new ways for church services and ministry, limited gatherings for events like weddings or memorial services, social distancing and mask wearing. We often look forward to a new year, but perhaps 2021 is anxiously awaited even more. After celebrating Christ’s birth and purpose in coming, we may have renewed hope for change going into the new year.

I don’t have any special insight to what God will do in 2021. Often God does not change our circumstances. He uses the storms, trials and hardships to conform us to the image of Christ. In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul shares with the Philippians his confidence in God’s provision.

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.

Verse 13 may be familiar to many of you. It is often quoted. People apply it to many things, but today let’s look at it in context. We want to make sure we rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

Paul introduces this section in verse ten by rejoicing that the Philippian church had an opportunity to show their concern for Paul. We don’t know if they didn’t have resources or perhaps there was no way to get the resources to Paul. Whatever the reason the Philippian church had no opportunity, Paul is not rebuking them, or he would not have started verse ten with rejoicing. He has called them partners in the gospel (1:5) and in verses 14-18 he commends them for the gifts they have previously sent and the current one they sent through Epaphroditus.

Verse ten segues into Paul’s exhortation on contentment. He is grateful for the Philippian’s gift, but he has learned to be content whether he receives a gift or not. Paul compares several circumstances – good and bad. He had good times where his needs were met, and he found favor with people, but we also know he went through incredible hardships that most of us will never know – multiple imprisonments, countless beatings often near death, stoned, shipwrecked, adrift at sea, danger from rivers, robbers, Jews, Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, at sea and from false brothers, toil and hardship, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure, a thorn in his flesh and persecution (2 Corinthians 11:16-12:10). He repeats that “in any and every circumstance” he has learned how to face them, to be content.

Contentment does not come naturally to us. Grumbling and questioning do (2:14). When things are bad, we want better. More money. Bigger house. Well-behaved kids. Health. New car. Different job. But even when we have good things, we want more. There’s always one more thing to have or change.

Along with the constant hope I have in Christ, this Christmas also felt sad. I grieved for friends and family that were celebrating this year without a loved one. More people I know have died in 2020 than any of my previous years. It weighed on me the loss their families and friends were feeling. I was sad that we couldn’t be with my parents to celebrate, that they were by themselves as so many were this year. As a Biblical counselor, I have been studying abuse, it’s affects and how God’s work brings hope and healing, but at the same time it is almost overwhelming to hear the abuse of another made in God’s image. That statistics are just as high in the church as outside the church. It has directly affected three people I know. My heart and mind want to scream complaints. I want to grumble. And sometimes I do.

How did Paul do it? How did he have contentment in any and every circumstance? It was through Christ who gave him the strength. Throughout Philippians, we seen Paul point to Christ, desiring to know Him, and sacrificially serving Him. Paul’s focus is not on himself or his needs. He knows that God is faithful and will supply every need we have (verse 19).

Paul knew that God was good. In 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 when Paul lists his hardships, it isn’t to complain or draw attention to himself because he has had such a miserable life. No, he points to God’s sufficiency. God’s grace. God’s strength at work in and through him. He praises God. I can’t imagine enduring what Paul did, but there is still rejoicing to be done. Contentment to be had. God in His goodness brought Paul through it all and used it to bring glory to Himself. The Good News was shared in each of those trials.

Not only do we have Paul’s example of contentment in any and every circumstance, we have Jesus’ perfect example. Not once did He ever grumble or complain. Not when He was born as a human baby to poor and disgraced parents. Not when his parents told Him what to do as he grew up. Not during His ministry when people persecuted and rejected Him or swarmed Him with their complaints and wants. Not when He was betrayed by one of His disciples and deserted by the rest. Not when He was beaten, mocked, humiliated and crucified. We are in Christ who was perfectly content in any and every circumstance. We will have days of grumbling and questioning, but on those days, Christ stands in our place with His perfect record of contentment.

So, when we read that Paul “can do all things through Him who strengthens me,” we see that it is CHOOSING contentment in every circumstance because we rest in God’s character. Does God equip us for the things He calls us to? Yes, we see that in other parts of Scripture, but here in verse 13, Paul’s emphatic statement of doing all things is being content always.

For Reflection: Where are you not choosing contentment? Confess that to God, and then write down the ways God has provided particularly in the situation you have been discontent or specifically with events in 2020. Be thankful that you can choose contentment in any and every situation because Christ’s strength has equipped you.