Can you remember a time when you felt totally at peace and satisfied with every area of your life? Usually that feeling comes when everything is exactly how WE want it. However this certainly wasn’t the case for Paul. But we find out in (Philippians 4:10-13), how he was able to react to these not so nice life situations.
We’d do well to learn a few lessons from him. In this life it’s just not possible to avoid difficult situations so we might as well figure out how to face them with a gentle, settled spirit rather than frustration and stress.
Contentment isn’t governed by external circumstances. Changing the situation may bring temporary relief, but satisfaction based on circumstances will always be sporadic and fleeting. It’s a matter of how you think, not what you have.
Contentment flows from an inward attitude. The apostle’s inner calm came from a mind set on Christ. Choosing to trust the Saviour no matter what, Paul allowed the Holy Spirit within him to rule his emotions and shape his responses.
Contentment is learned experientially. This isn’t something you can acquire from a book or sermon, because it’s a process that must believed out. Paul learned contentment—in persecution, suffering, and prison. The Lord used every difficulty to transform him.
Many things in life cause frustration, stress, and serious displeasure, but these are the things God uses to produce contentment inus. When you’ve reached a dead end andare fed up with how things are going, then you’re at a point the Lord can teach you His new way of living, in contentment and trust.
The next time you think it’s just not possible to be at peace or content with all that’s going on in your life, reach through the book of Acts and see what Paul had to go through, yet he was able to say I have learned whatever the circumstances to be content.