Contented

It is wonderful to wake up in my bed after several days in Lubbock TX. I was given a full blown tour of my husband’s beloved Texas Tech campus, enjoyed meals with his family and friends, and attended his dear friend’s memorial service.

Thanks be to God for home! Home sweet home. There’s no place like it. Repeating in my mind are the Apostle Paul’s words: “I have learned that in whatever STATE I am in, I will be content.” (Philippians 4:11)

By “being content in whatever STATE we are in”, I don’t mean the State of Texas, though it is a fine state to live in! I mean, and Paul probably meant, we shouldn’t grumble because we can’t be in Florida in the dead of winter or in the sweet breezes of summer in Colorado.jo

I have come to terms with the attitude of Paul when he wrote, “I have learned to be content – wherever, whenever and however.”

Contentment is an almost-identical twin to the attitude expressed in another famous quote by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16: “Always be joyful”. Both joy and contentment involve being happy for the privilege of being alive and loved by God.

But where joy energizes us for action, contentment relaxes us for rest. It’s probably no coincidence that Paul wrote “Always be joyful” when his missionary work was thriving, and the “contentment” part was from Rome when he was living under house arrest. I think that’s the “whatever” state where we should always live.

Another thing joy and contentment have in common is they come naturally in “perfect” circumstances, but it takes some practice to keep them going when the good times cease to roll.

If we are only content when everything goes our way, we’ll have many more bad days than good ones. Worse, we’ll develop the habit of seeing even good days as bad days.

I’d rather join Paul’s “content whatever the circumstances” club. The secrets of obtaining membership are abandoning complaining, trusting in God’s timing, and believing what He says is true. It is allowing God’s promises to sustain us in good times and bad.

The truth is, God never promised to keep our lives free of inconvenience or pain or even inexplicable tragedy. He promises to stay close to us, to give us everything we need, and work everything out for ultimate good.

Paul could have found plenty of excuses to complain that everything always went wrong for him. It sure looked like it from my point of view. But not Paul. He thanked God for all he had: wonderful friends, the privilege of seeing the gospel spread, the promise of Heaven.

Whatever the challenges of his outward circumstances, he could face them with both contentment and joy because he had eternal treasures no one could take away. I purpose to follow in Paul’s footsteps and keep my eyes on God while resting — contented in Him. How about you?