Today’s Episode: Finding Contentment in Every Season
Scripture:Philippians 4:10-23Series: Philippians: The Unshakable Joy of Life in Christ
Why are so many people today chronically dissatisfied or disenchanted? In this final episode of our series, Philippians: The Unshakable Joy of Life in Christ, Pastor Jim explores verses 4:10-23. We discover the secret of true contentment in every circumstance and the comfort of knowing that God will supply all of our needs.
Pastor Jim’s Show Notes:
“Contentment is not natural to most of mankind.”
Homer A. Kent, Jr.
Given our deep longings for love, knowledge, meaning and purpose in life, plus, our profound questions about truth, reality, transcendence, and pain, evil and suffering, etc. if we are to ever experience contentment, we will need a sturdy framework for understanding and experiencing such things.
Since God is infinite, that’s an unlimited resource for God to draw from as God supplies all our needs. How much does God have in the bank? We’ll, all of it. Because God owns the bank. Remember, by right of creation, this God who created everything out of nothing owns everything.
Generosity is not an accessory to Christian faith; it is one of the most natural reflections of the authenticity of our faith in Jesus. A church that is following the self-giving Christ will inevitably become a self-giving community.
In verse 13, when Paul says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” he is not claiming limitless potential, but unshakeable dependence. Christ does not spare him from hunger or hardship; Christ sustains him in spite of them.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it well: “The Christian is not one who has ceased to feel, but one who has learned where to take his feelings.”
Here, we see God’s economy on display. What looks like subtraction becomes multiplication. What is released in faith is received by God as worship.
Followers of Jesus have both open hands and generous hearts.
Because Christ has given Himself to us, we must give ourselves away. Because Christ supplies our every need, we can experience contentment in plenty or in want. The secret is not positive thinking, human temperament or psychological technique, but union with Jesus Christ.
“There’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When you truly know God, you have energy to serve Him, boldness to share Him, and contentment in Him.” – J .I .Packer
“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”
Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
