Dave’s Monday Blast – June 15, 2015
I just returned from an annual trip to the Black Rock Desert in Northwest Nevada. My son and I have have made this trip the last five years with a number of other teens and fathers. This is a desolate area, typically hot, dry and windy. We go out to this specific location because it tests our mettle. We enjoy the hiking and environmental challenges. We look forward to the familiar fellowship, the casting of various caliber rounds down range, and the time around the Word. I returned last night feeling content. Everything went according to plan. But the weekend got me thinking once again about this familiar passage in Philippians.
Paul wrote about contentment in Philippians 4:4-13. I have spoken somewhat in jest about this passage in the past. I find verses 11 and 12 to be the most audacious passage in all of Scripture. It must be a mistake…if there is any error to be found in all of Scripture…this is it! HOW CAN ONE FIND CONTENTMENT IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES? I understand contentment when all goes well, but how about when things do not go as planned?
What is genuine contentment? Paul is speaking of a freedom from worry and frustration about everything in life…even unfulfilled desires. It’s usually when we cannot control or change our situation that we feel discontent. As long as our satisfaction depends on whether certain things actually work out, we’ll allow circumstances to cheat us out of peace. I’m not saying there’s some spiritual stage where you will never again experience anxiety or frustration. But what matters is how we respond when those feelings grip us.
This is something that even the Apostle Paul had to learn. Paul endured amazing suffering, from shipwrecks and hunger to unjust imprisonment and beatings (2 Corinthians 11:24 30). He had gone through countless situations that were uncertain, extraordinarily painful, and seemingly hopeless. But he finally discovered that contentment could not be dependent upon his circumstances.
How do you respond when circumstances are out of your control? Do you get angry? Do you try to escape? Does despair make you want to give up? Paul INTENTIONALLY chose to give his anxieties to Jesus in exchange for a “peace that surpasses all comprehension” (Philippians 4:7). That same peace is available to each of us this very day!
