I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:12
Contentment- it is harder than learning patience! I fought against anything having to do with contentment for a while because in my mind contentment equaled complacency and I didn’t want to be complacent. As if. There was very little chance of this happening as my natural tendency is quite the opposite direction of complacency! I needed to learn the secret of being content.
There was a seemingly never ending stretch in my work life in which I was very unhappy. Like absolutely miserable. I was unhappy with the work I was doing, unhappy with the amount of money I was making, unhappy with the hours it was necessary for me to work. I thought if I just had a 9-5 job and didn’t have to work evenings anymore I would be so happy. I thought if I could make just a little more money every paycheck that would help out so much. I thought, I thought, I thought…. Now intellectually I knew that things would not make me happier. More money is always nice but all of my needs, and many of my wants, were met. So I knew that this stuff wouldn’t make me content, but I wanted it anyway.
Fast forward a few years and my situation has changed, I have a job that I love, I work hours that I like, and yes the money could still be more, but I have come to fully appreciate that it always can be more. I am happy in my day to day life while still wanting more eventually, but God has taught me, and I’m sure will continue to teach me, how desiring to grow and do more in life mustn’t steal the joy from our everyday life.
I was sitting in church a few weeks ago and our Pastor mentioned a verse that I have heard many times but this time I had a perspective shift. The verse is Philippians 4:12, Paul is writing and he says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
Now I had always looked at this verse as Paul saying he had learned how to be content in having nothing after he had been used to living in plenty. But I don’t think that that is all this verse is saying. In fact if you take out that little section in the commas it would read, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether living in plenty or in want.” He had learned to be content living in plenty. He had learned. He wasn’t content because he had plenty. He still had to learn to be content while having plenty. This is the thing about plenty, the more you have, the more you realize you could have. The desire for more doesn’t turn off once we have more than we once did. It’s a job, a process, something we have to invite the Lord into our hearts to fix. Because the desire for more was planted within us by Him, we are filled with a desire for another world, and so often we try to fill that desire with things of this world. C.S Lewis said it well, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” The desire for more is a craving only He can satisfy.
This doesn’t mean we don’t ever desire more, but I think it means that even while desiring more we still are grateful for everything we have now. When we focus first on Him, our priorities will fall into place. He will fill up our hearts with contentment when we remember to focus on what, and Who, matters most.