This Is True Contentment!
"I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be
full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
Philippians 4:12
Paul and Silas were jailed in Philippi where they entertained the
other prisoners with their prayers and hymn-singing (Acts 16:25).
While under house arrest for two years in Rome, Paul preached
and taught about the Kingdom to who listened (Acts 28:30-31).
How was he able to find joy and contentment in those dire
circumstances?
Perhaps because he practiced what he exhorted the Christians
in Rome to do: present oneself to God as a living sacrifice in order
to discover that “perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). Paul cared
less about what God’s will was than he did about being
faithful in
it. When God’s will was incarceration, he was content with being
imprisoned. When the Philippian church sent gifts for his welfare
while under arrest in Rome, he rejoiced. But not because he
was desperate for the gifts; he was perfectly content. He
rejoiced because he knew God would bless the givers
(Philippians 4:17).
True contentment is knowing what
God’s will is and living by faith in it.
"Live to the hilt every situation
you believe to be the will of God."
Jim Elliot
