I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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.      I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13

When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi, he was writing from a Roman prison. The church at Philippi had sent him some supplies and Paul was thanking them for their concern and response to his needs. He was quick to say that he appreciated their gifts but that his needs had been met in Christ because he had learned to be content in every situation of life. In this letter, we learn that contentment, in the sense that Paul uses it, is an essential key to happiness.

The word translated “content” is a very strong word in ancient Greek philosophical circles. It was the state that all Greek philosophers aspired to as a state of being totally unaffected by the world around them and emotionally self-sufficient. You see this mindset of total, unquestioning acceptance in eastern religions. It is the idea of being self-contained so that nothing upsets a man’s inner world of peace. Eastern mystics often strive to reach that state of inner peace through total, unquestioning acceptance of their circumstances and a disregard for personal needs or comfort. It is ultimate expression of fatalism that says whatever happens, happens – so just accept it.

Paul did not mean “contentment” in the same sense because Christians are never to be indifferent to the needs of the world around them or to be self-contained and self-sufficient. We do not live a life of fatalistic acceptance because we are more than conquerors in Christ. However, Paul had discovered a Christ-sufficiency that guarded his heart and generated an internal contentment even in prison.

Paul experienced that internal contentment as peace and goes on in this same letter to say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.        And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:6-7). How many of us are in search of peace in our hearts? How many of us would be willing to give anything to alleviate our anxiousness, our angst, and our internal restlessness that never lets us enjoy the moment or find peace in the midst of the storm?

I believe Paul’s secret to contentment and peace was his strong conviction that God was in the midst of every storm with him. Paul did not believe that God caused his hardships because he knew who the enemy was. However, he did believe that God was with him and that God would insert his purposes into every situation. For Paul, every obvious victory and every seeming defeat offered an opportunity to discover more about the Father and more about Jesus. In the midst of crisis, Paul saw an opportunity to discover who God was going to be for him in that crisis. It was a chance to discover a new facet of the Father’s love and power that he had not known before.

He believed that both seasons of plenty and seasons of lack were opportunities for thanksgiving. In a season of plenty, thanksgiving was prompted by the harvest that had just occurred. In a season of lack, thanksgiving was prompted by the harvest that was on the way. Paul had learned to see God’s hand and feel his presence and his working in every situation.

In a circumstance where we might feel that God had abandoned us to injustice and hardship, Paul still saw the hand of God. Early in his letter he wrote, “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly” (Phil.1:12-14).

Even in a prison cell, Paul saw the hand of God at work. God was working something in Paul as well as through Paul in his present circumstance. Because of that, Paul found a spiritual capacity to be content or at peace with life at any given moment because even the hard times had an eternal purpose for him. His thanksgiving was based on what he believed God was doing and would do in each moment. He said that prayer and thanksgiving in any crisis would guard our hearts and produce a peace that transcends or goes beyond our understanding.

The key is to know that God will work something good out of every circumstance in which we find ourselves. He is not absent, he is not indifferent, he is not powerless. He is working and a heart of thanksgiving opens up our spiritual eyes to see, first of all, who he is and then what he is doing.

We live in a world and a culture that works hard to produce a state of non-contentment. Every add you see in a magazine or on television tries to convince you that you need at least one more thing for happiness or fulfillment – a new car, a cruise, a new look, or the perfect house just beyond your budget. The devil also whispers that what you have is not enough – you deserve more or you deserve better – a more attentive or better looking spouse, more money, more power, more influence, or more fame. With each of those temptations he promises more significance, more happiness, and more contentment.

However, outside of God’s purposes, nothing will bring those things in any lasting way. Remember Adam and Eve. Satan convinced them that there was just one more thing they needed for happiness and that one bite from the tree would meet their need. To Satan’s delight, instead of peace and contentment, that next bite produced fear and shame.

Paul had definitely learned to look for more – but more of God rather than more of what the world offered. No circumstance could keep him from God so in every circumstance he could say, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil.4:4). Because of his relationship with the Father, Paul always anticipated good because God is good. He always anticipated victory, because God is victory. He always anticipated having enough because God is the God who provides. He always anticipated the ability to endure because he knew that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Contentment is great gain. Learn to find the hand of God in every circumstance and that contentment can be yours.