I Am Content

Philippians 4:12 (GNT)

“I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learnt this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am too full or hungry, whether. I have too much or too little.”

Many of us during the season the church calls 'Lent' (March and half of April) will give up something that we struggle to live without as a way of putting God at the center of our lives. I personally in the past have given up various things from coffee to make-up or TV. Some years I would struggle with the choice I had made and sometimes I wouldn’t even miss what I gave up, but for those six weeks it would always make me reflect if it was important in my life or whether I could live without it. 

You don’t miss what you never had but the problem of living in the West is that we pretty much have everything or at least access to getting it. I have experienced other cultures and countries where many people don't have a lot of material goods, but I have been taken aback by their contentment and gratitude for what they did have. They would often have the brightest smiles, be super-creative and be so generous despite not having a lot. 

We usually feel satisfied when we are full from eating and no longer hungry, but it's a satisfaction that is temporary and we're soon hungry again. Similarly in our lives there can come a point when, no matter how much we have acquired, we realise that what we have is never enough. Hopefully we discover that wanting more from the world will never bring satisfaction and that deep and true contentment can only come as the gift of God. Only God can fill us and make us whole. Only God can give us all that we truly need and when we receive the fullness he offers, whether circumstances change or not, we will find contentment.  

Prayer — God I ask that today you fill us up and help us see all that you are doing in our lives. Let us give thanks for what you have given us and accept with joy that in you we have everything we need.