Waist Deep 2018 - November 13


Philippians 4: 11, 12 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. (NIV)


This is the most dangerous trial of all, when there is no trial and everything goes well; for then a man is tempted to forget God, to become too bold and to misuse times of prosperity.*


I have never actually been in need – although I have experienced the opposite of “in plenty.” Was I content during those times? Not so much. But I had to trust God to provide because there was nothing else I could do. In this verse, however, Paul is not talking about stoical indifference to prosperity or adversity,* he’s talking about a heart condition that is not affected by external conditions.

Somewhere I read that the word translated as “content” also could be rendered as “contained,” as in, a person whose resources are within him. That may be what “content” looks like but none of us is truly self-sufficient. We cannot find contentment until we are surrendered to God’s control. Only then will we be satisfied with a little and not spoiled by a lot.

If I am ever called to walk the path of need again, I pray that my faith is strong enough to endure it; that my years of plenty haven’t weakened my faith in God’s provision; and that my circumstances will never determine my attitude.* It has been my experience that I can’t be content until I choose to be.  


Our self-proclaimed right to the “pursuit of happiness” sometimes gets in the way of realizing we have enough.*


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