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Learning Contentment J. R. Bronger The apostle Paul wrote in Phil. 4:11–13, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” These are, I believe, some of the most meaningful and comforting words in the entire Bible. Here Paul assures the believer that it is possible to learn contentment while struggling through life. This age could be described as one of dissatisfaction. Instead of learning to be content, men and women have become malcontents dissatisfied with life and living. I recently finished the book Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, which describes the travels of Lewis and Clark. Actually, it chronicles Merriweather Lewis more than it does William Clark. The book says that in spite of his successes, Lewis became a pathetic figure of a man who eventually committed suicide. Despite his achievements, he never learned contentment. As the statesman Benjamin Franklin said, “To the discontented man, no chair is easy.” If discontentment were a disease, those who contract it would become chronic sufferers. Unhappiness and depression set in and render a man or woman unable to cope with life. Countless numbers of people like Merriweather Lewis decide to end depression and melancholy by ending their own lives. Even those who profess to be followers of Christ are often unhappy and emotionally ill at ease. Many Christians are slipping in and out of depression and woe without any prospects of getting better. Yet we read Paul saying that regardless of what befell him, he had learned to be content. He said in our text, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” As the people of God, we should be able to express this same contentment, because time and again the Bible tells us to be content. For example, John told the soldiers who came to him for baptism in Lk. 3:14 to “be content with your wages.” In the year 2000, men and women are often anything but content with their wages. This is one big reason workers so often resent employers. Also, we are told in 1 Tim. 6:8, “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Yet many people are not satisfied with what they have to eat or wear. Can you say that you are genuinely content with what you have to wear? Can you honestly say that you are content with what you have to eat? The Holy Spirit, through the writings of the apostle Paul, said that Christians are indeed to be content with their food and clothing. Then in Heb. 13:5 we read, “Be content with such things as you have.” In this society, I believe this is about as hard a thing to be as there is. When we see what others have and then see what we don’t have, seeds of discontent are sown. Think about this: Christians are to be content with the food they have, the clothing they wear, the wages that make, and with such things as they have. Also, think about this: Paul said that he had learned how to be content with such as he had. The fact is that Paul learned what some people would be willing to spend a fortune to have — a contented heart. Many people, instead of being content with such as they have, are chronically discontent. They turn to alcohol or drugs, seeking relief from their unhappiness. Some change families like dirty shirts because of dissatisfaction, and some drop out of society. But Paul did not turn to alcohol and he did not drop out of life. Instead, he found satisfaction; he learned the secret of contentment. This morning, we are going to learn what Paul learned so that we can face life contented. But in order to appreciate the depth of Paul’s contentment, we must first understand his circumstances. When Paul said he learned to be content in whatever state he found himself, he was not merely theorizing. Occasionally he found himself in a position of having plenty. In Phil. 3:12 he said, “I know how to abound.” This word abound means “to be in excess, to be superfluous, to have enough and to spare, to exceed.” To those who do not know any better, this sounds like a contradiction, because the popular notion is that prosperity brings contentment. That is not so! Prosperity is a hard state in which to find contentment. One hundred years ago, the average American had 70 “wants.” Today we have more than any generation before us, yet the average American now has 500 “wants.” Today, people are convinced that if they could just get the elusive “it” or the latest “that” then they could be happy. You have heard it said, or perhaps you have even made the statement, “If I just had that new [fill in the blank], I could be happy.” An old country song says that there isn’t one rich man in ten with a satisfied mind. The reason for this is because it is extremely hard to learn contentment in the state of prosperity. The wise man wrote in Eccl. 5:10, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase.” My friends, even if you owned a home with more than one hundred bedrooms, you can still sleep in only one. If things or prosperity brought contentment, we would be a nation of satisfied people. But we are not. In addition to being content in the state of plenty, Paul said he learned contentment in the state of poverty. He wrote in Phil. 4:12, “>I know how to be abased.” The word abased means to become financially depressed. The New Living Translation translates this statement this way: “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.” I’ll tell you what, my friends, it might be easier to be humble when you are poor, but it is not easier to be content. This is the reason inner cities erupt — the impoverished are discontented. Yet instead of erupting in anger or despair, Paul said he had learned contentment in his poverty. Let me insert a side point here. I will not detour too far, but I do want to point out that Paul indicates here that as a Christian he often suffered want. This destroys the false doctrine that says when you become a Christian that God will bless you with a life of health and wealth. My friends, being a Christian is no guarantee that you will be blessed with many material things. Like Paul, you might be a faithful servant of God and still live in poverty. Preachers who tell you that God will bless you materially in proportion to your faith are lying to you. God has never promised that the faithful will have abundance. The Christians who lived in Jerusalem lost their homes when they were driven from the city in Acts 8. But they, like the apostle Paul, learned to live and cope and be content. But this was not all that Paul was forced to cope with — he had lost his freedom. When he wrote the book of Philippians, he was a prisoner in a Roman stockade. He says in Phil. 1:13, “It has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ.” Four times in the first chapter, Paul refers to his chains. I am convinced that Paul means much more than a metaphorical reference to his imprisonment. Most scholars agree that Paul would have literally been chained to his guards. He would have had the freedom to have visitors and write letters, which is evident by his writing of the book of Philippians. But he would have been in chains because of his Christianity. Yet even though he was caged like an animal, unable to freely move about preaching Christ, he still affirmed that he had learned contentment. Paul said that he had learned the secret of contentment. It did not matter whether he was in bondage or free to move from city to city. This contentment kept Paul from being overcome with depression. He did not dwell upon his plight and become despondent. Instead he found contentment and spent his time trying to reach others, even his guards, with the saving gospel of Christ. Therefore, in Phil. 4:16 he is able to close his letter with these words, “All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household.” His stay in prison had been productive; he had led a number of palace servants and guards to Christ. This was because he had learned contentment in whatever state he found himself. Paul was content even if he found that his friends and colleagues had abandoned him. In writing to Timothy while in prison, Paul said in 2 Tim. 4:16, “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.” When he needed a friend the most, he was abandoned. When he needed someone to stand up with him and for him, he had no one. He was alone in his darkest hour. You and I know that it is much easier to be content whenever we are surrounded with family, friends, and well-wishers. But we soon become afraid and lonely when we are alone. Then discontentment and unhappiness begin to settle around us like a cold fog. But because Paul had learned to be content, this loneliness did not erode his spirit. The chances are very good that many listening to this program will find themselves all alone one day. We might lose a companion to death, a child to the world, or a spouse to divorce. What then? Do we become despondent and give up on living? Or do we find the courage and ability to go on? We can move beyond these crippling losses when we learn Paul’s secret of contentment. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by his loss of friends, Paul said he learned contentment. Another state in which Paul found himself, also a state in which he learned contentment, was the state of being old. Paul lived long enough to have lost his youth. He wrote to his friend Philemon in Philemon, verse 9, “Yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you; being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” My friends, Paul had grown old. Perhaps his hair had thinned and turned gray, and maybe his body was stooped and bent with age. Age had taken its toll on this once vigorous preacher of the gospel. If Paul’s loss of youth were like the rest of us, and I don’t doubt for a moment that it was, then he would hurt to lie down and ache when he arose to face another day. When we lose our youth, even our good days aren’t good. Yet this aged Christian said that he had learned contentment in this state. Old age did not rob him of his satisfaction; he had learned contentment in spite of the infirmities of old age. This certainly is not the case today with many. People today are like those featured in cosmetic commercials — they do not wish to grow old gracefully; they fight it every step of the way. This was not Paul’s attitude. He did not grow discontented with the years. Instead, he learned contentment even as his youth passed and old age came on. Old age did not rob him of his satisfaction. Throughout this country, even among those claiming to be Christians, men and women are struggling with growing old. Many are actually terrified with reaching thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, or seventy. They stare in the mirror and are devastated at the old faces looking back at them. The count their wrinkles or gray hair and go into depression. Instead of being content with old age, many try to dress as though they are 18 years old. Instead of learning contentment in their aged years, many are trying to recapture their youth. This was not how this aged Christian, Paul, faced his loss of youth. He faced it with contentment and dignity. My friends, this is a tremendous message for you and me. Also, Paul was able to learn contentment in a state of ill health. Or perhaps I should say in a state of “a thorn in his flesh.” In 2 Cor. 12: 7–9, Paul writes this about physical disabilities: A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. My friends, there is not a Bible student anywhere who knows with certainty what this thorn in Paul’s flesh was. What we do know, however, is that it was incurable. The Lord was not going to remove it, and that makes it incurable. Whatever it was, he was going to have to live with it. You and I know that it is much easier to be happy and content when we are in good health. But when health begins to fail, many become discontent and unhappy. Some even blame God for the change of fortune in their health. I am not suggesting that Paul was glad he had physical infirmities, and I don’t believe he is saying he was happy to be ill or happy to have a thorn in the flesh. Neither do I believe that Christians must rejoice whenever their health begins to fail. He is saying, however, that regardless of what happens to his health he has learned to be content. Today, people talk about dying with dignity, and they usually have in mind suicide or euthanasia. Neither of these methods of departing life is dignified. Both are evidences of discontent and anxiety. Real “death with dignity” is an extension of sickness with dignity. Whenever you and I learn to be content in the state of poor health, then we can and we will live and die with dignity. There is dignity in traveling through the valley of the shadow of death with contentment. As Paul faced his impending death, he wrote in 2 Tim. 4:6–8: For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing. Now, let’s review briefly what we have discussed so far. Paul said that he learned to be content in whatever state he found himself. Occasionally he had plenty; sometimes he was in poverty. He was in prison and friendless as well as old and physically impaired. Yet, in all these stages of his life, Paul said he had leaned to be content. The question is: How did Paul learn this contentment? What was Paul’s secret of being content regardless of what was happening to him? He didn’t achieve that contentment by seeking it. The contentment Paul learned was a byproduct of something else. Whenever we set out to seek contentment, it becomes elusive. But when we begin focusing upon the things that captured Paul, then we too can learn contentment. Paul learned contentment in part by being truly converted to Christ. He said in 2 Tim. 1:12, “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day.” Paul had genuinely and completely devoted himself to serving Christ. Jesus became the focal point of Paul’s existence. He said in Phil. 1:20, “As always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” Whenever Christ Jesus becomes the nucleus of our existence, then we can be content in him, whether we are living or dying. As he would say in Col. 3:3, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” My friends, whenever our lives are hidden in Jesus, nothing the world throws at us will shake the contentment we have in him. Neither prosperity nor poverty can dislodge contentment when our lives are hidden in Christ. Commitment to Christ leads to emotional and spiritual contentment just as milk satisfies the gnawing hunger in an infant’s stomach. Whenever you can say something like what Paul said in Gal. 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” you will have learned contentment. Paul also learned contentment by developing a deep and abiding faith in Christ. Heb. 13:5–6 says, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” My friends, Paul’s satisfaction and his contentment were rooted deeply in his faith in Christ. Think about this for a moment. The writer says here, “Be content with such things as you have.” Paul’s life exemplified this. His “such things” included poverty, ill health, old age, and so forth. Yet these things did not affect his contentment because his faith in Christ prevented that. If you have faith enough in Christ to believe that “the Lord is my helper; I will not fear,” then what on earth can shake your happiness and peace of mind? So when old age, ill health, and poverty came upon Paul, his faith in Christ kept him content. He said in Phil 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and so can you. Whenever things came upon him that would normally shake one’s emotional stability, Paul said this in 2 Tim. 4:17: “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” My friends, how can we be anything other than content whenever the Lord is standing with us to strengthen us? Contentment in all things is a result of being truly converted to Christ (and not in some nominal, Sunday-go-to-church sort of way). It is also a result of a deep and abiding faith in Christ. Also, Paul’s contentment was a result of reading and meditating upon the scriptures. When Paul was languishing in prison (not for crimes he had done, but because of his faith in Christ) he said to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:13, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come; and the books, especially the parchments.” My friends, Paul is making reference to the scriptures. Even though the Holy Spirit was guiding him, he still found comfort and hope in the scriptures. He said in Rom. 15:4, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” If the scriptures provided comfort and hope for Paul, an inspired apostle, don’t you think it will do the same for us? In order to learn contentment, we should spend hours reading and meditating upon the scriptures. Hide the word of God in your heart so that you can find the comfort and guidance necessary to chart your course through the problems of life. Then you can find contentment whenever hurt and problems and disappointments come upon you. For example, spend some time in the book of Job whenever it seems like you have been abandoned. Job suffered many things, more than you and I will ever face, and he was not told why. Yet the hand of God delivered him. When I consider my problems in light of the teaching of scriptures, I have hope and I find contentment. Finally, to have the contentment Paul learned, learn to pray like Paul prayed. He said in Phil. 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” There is a reason for having an active and living prayer life. Verse 7 continues with, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” You can rest assured that Paul was a praying man. He kept the lines of communication open between himself and Heaven. He taught us to do the same. Are there problems in your life? Talk them over with God! Do you have needs? Lay them at the throne of God! Do you have worries? Pray about them and trust God to do what is best! Are you or a loved one facing disease or death? Prayer will see you through these difficult times. Not alone, but coupled with the things we have discussed this morning. You will learn contentment whenever you learn the need to be (1) truly converted to Christ, (2) have a deep abiding faith in Christ, (3) meditate daily upon the scriptures and (4) have an active prayer life. Let’s end where we began. In Phil. 4:11, he says, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” Have you? |
