Content?

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Philippians 4:11

It seems that we have to work at being content. That’s not the same as being happy one day and depressed the next. It’s more than that. It’s a settled state of contentment which is sometimes referred to as ‘joy’ in the Bible. Paul had more reason than most to feel discontented. He was beaten, shipwrecked, bitten by a snake, and left for dead after a particularly bad mob attack. That didn’t stop him from learning contentment.

The plain fact is this: Paul wanted to live a contented life because he had more reason to be positive about life than being negative. After all, he knew that God had a plan for his life, and that plan was not concluded yet. Having learned to be content, he stuck with it, and this is the important part for me, “..in whatever situation…”. Life wasn’t finished throwing bad things at Paul, but no matter what, he was going to be content. It was his choice.

As another apostle said in 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”. I for one, need to grasp this truth and hold on to it. What about you? What gets in the way and stops you from being content? We don’t have to stay down. The clear message is that we can rise above it, and live a contented life. Let’s make that one of our God driven goals.