Jump Start # 457 

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

  Contentment—that’s a hard one for a lot of us. The context of this passage describes both humble means and prosperity. Contentment therefore is not based upon what you have, but rather what has you. Most of us could do quite well in prosperity. Just let us have a chance and we’ll show you. We think that, but would we? Would prosperity make us generous and kind? Or, would we spend like a fool, buying more and more stuff that we don’t need just because we could. The guy in humble means doesn’t have many choices. He can try to get a better job and improve. Maybe mismanagement of money led him to being humble, but most likely, as in Paul’s case, he wasn’t paid much to preach. He got by. It didn’t sour him.

  Contentment is a state of the mind—it has nothing to do with bank accounts. It is being satisfied. Satisfied, I wonder if we can ever get there in our minds. We look at where we live, and we think, it’d be nice to have more room. We look at the car we drive and think, it’s sure getting a lot of miles on it, it’d be nice to have a new one. We look in the mirror and think, sure could shed a few pounds. Satisfied. Are we ever there?

  I wonder about this spiritually. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Can a person ever be satisfied spiritually? In some ways, no. And the reason is, you always have room to grow. There are always things to be done. There are people to teach, others to encourage, still others have doubts that need to be addressed. More could be saved. More could attend. More could be teachers. More…more…more. Is it possible to be satisfied spiritually?

  Then I think about Psalms 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” That is a statement of contentment. I am satisfied. I have found what I need and I don’t need any more.

  Contentment is that inner calm that keeps you from being agitated, worried and stressed. Sure, we could all be better. Sure, we could all probably do more. But when we put our eyes on Jesus, what else matters? This is the peace, the satisfaction, the calm that echoed through Paul’s writings. Humble or prosperity, didn’t really change things between him and God. That’s the thought.

  Maybe our lack of contentment is a sign that we have too much of this world in us still. Maybe we are trying to fix everyone else’s life and we can’t do that. Contentment is personal. It is how I feel about things and how I see things. Type A personalities, have to work hard on contentment. The accelerator in your brain is always pushed to the floor. Driven is your way of life. That’s good in many areas, but there’s that inner peace that may be missing that only comes from being satisfied with God.

  God is good. He is good to each of us. We have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes it’s good to pause and see where we’ve been, what we’ve gone through, and what lies ahead –especially spiritually.

  The key to our passage today is Paul saying, “I’ve learned…”  Contentment doesn’t just happen. You learn it. You experience it. You see it in others. You see it in Paul. You see it in Jesus. You see it in other Christians. Satisfied. Satisfied with God. These are the folks that actually enjoy worship service. They don’t notice that the song leader was late in getting up to lead songs…the preacher fumbled around for a while, the babies were fussy, a light was burned out…no, what they noticed was God among us. They are satisfied, focused and connected to God. They actually smile as they enter the church building—they are glad to be there. Worship is peaceful, helpful and refreshing. They leave feeling better.

  I can’t say that I always feel that way. I over analyze my sermons, I’m thinking about this and that, and that could have been better, this should have been said…and on and on and leave tired and sometimes unconnected. I’m working on contentment. Being refreshed because I’m in the presence of God. Satisfied that God invites and includes me.

  Give this some thought and chew on it a while. Being content is a wonderful place to be.

Roger