Can I Really Do All Things?

Let’s follow up on what we looked at last week.

Last week, we said that there were 5 attitudes that characterize us as we seek to live and rest in the peace of God that he gives us through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for us.

We are going to look at a passage that I am afraid we often misapply.

I don’t know about you, but I had a tough time applying some of that this week.

Open your Bibles to .

Here, we find Paul expressing his gratitude to the church at Philippi for the support they gave him.

I imagine most of us found ourselves stretched in one way or another. It could be that you are now facing a season where you cannot work, and you are wondering how you are going to make it.

Perhaps you are in healthcare, and you are pulling extra hours and beginning to feel the strain, or you are a teacher working hard to figure out how to teach online.

The isolation may be getting to you, and you are starting to wonder, “Can I really do this? Can I really show joy when things are so out of whack right now?”

That’s the question we are going to answer today. Let’s go back to to see the answer Paul gives.

If you have been around church for a while, verse 13 should sound awfully familiar. You may have seen athletes write it on their eye black or seen it hanging on a motivational poster somewhere.

I am going to suggest this morning that we often mistake the whole point of that verse, though, and we are going to try to put it in its proper context.

Now, if you know me, you know that I am typically don’t like statements like, “The secret to success,” or “the key to unlocking your potential.”

Almost every time, the magazine article or blog post that follows a title like that over-promises and under-delivers.

However, this morning, I believe Paul outlines for us the key to showing joy in everything, including the COVID craziness we are in right now.

If you remember nothing else, I want you to catch this: the key to displaying joy in everything is to cultivate contentment.

If you and I are going to make it through the twists and turns of the next few months, we need God to give us a greater sense of contentment.

Let’s read the verses and then dive right in...

Start with me in .

As Americans, contentment is a concept we don’t often talk about. We want bigger, better, tastier, faster, more, and we want it now.

Cultivating contentment runs contrary to that whole concept, which is why it is so vital for us to see today.

This morning’s outline is going to revolve around two questions: “What is contentment?” and “Why are we content?”

So, let’s establish what we are talking about first:

1) What is contentment?

Start with me in .

Paul has

Read verses 11-12 with me…

Doesn’t that first line strike you as incredible?

Do you remember where we said Paul was last week when he wrote this letter? He was in prison!

Here he is, under house arrest, relying on the support of others, abandoned by many, had to flee from his homeland because people were trying to kill him, and he says, “I don’t say this out of need…”

Does that mean that Paul never had a need? Of course not!

Rather, Paul had developed a deeply rooted attitude that would keep him even-keeled during the extremes of life.

He said he had learned to be content in whatever circumstances he was in.

The word “content” here is an interesting word. This word family isn’t used often in the New Testament.

It was a word that was used by the Stoics, who were all about being self-reliant.

They taught that you subjected everything to reason, so therefore you could figure it out, fight it out in your own mind, and didn’t need anything from anyone else.

If you didn’t want anything, it didn’t matter what happened to your stuff or your relationships. If you had complete rational control over your emotions, then nothing would rattle you.

In some sense, this is part of contentment.

Contentment is the ability to face situations with the same undercurrent of joy, whether they are hard or whether they are simple.

Contentment is maintaining joy in everything.

Paul says in verse 12 that this was what he has learned…

Isn’t it interesting that he goes to both ends of the spectrum?

We understand having to work to be content in difficult times, when the money is tight, or as Paul says, when we have humble means, are hungry, or suffering need.

But what about the flip side?

Having more than you need doesn’t necessarily make you happy!

In fact, the ability to get more makes you less satisfied than if you didn’t have as many options.

Think about it like this: Have you seen any of the Operation Christmas Child videos where the kids open their boxes? One that jumped out at me was the little boy in Zimbabwe who pulled out a toothbrush and started screaming because he was so excited.

If you gave most kids in America a toothbrush for Christmas, they wouldn’t be happy at all!

How many channels or streaming services do you have on your TV? Yet are you always happy with being able to find something you want?

What about food? If you’re sincerely, medically starving, any food sounds amazing. Ever open your refrigerator and still not be able to find something you want to eat because of all the leftovers?

Having an abundance doesn’t mean you will be content.

That’s why a wise man named Agur prayed this prayer:

Proverbs 30:7–9 CSB

Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die: Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.

“Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.” (, NASB95)

He prayed that God would give him exactly what he needed; no more and no less.

Isn’t that echoed by Jesus in his prayer that he modeled for us in , where he calls us to pray for God to supply our daily bread?

That’s a great start towards what Paul is talking about here, but it doesn’t get us all the way.

See, God didn’t always allow Paul to have everything he needed, and Paul sometimes had more than he needed.

In those moments, he needed God to cultivate contentment in his own heart.

There’s something else that is challenging about these verses: Paul uses another unique word in verse 12 – the word translated “I have learned the secret”

That word actually comes from what are known as mystery cults. In those religions, you had to go through an initiation to learn all their secrets.

Why did Paul use that word?

Paul said he had to be initiated into these events to learn the secret of contentment.

It wasn’t an instant download of new information into his head; Paul had to learn these things by going through them.

Why would we expect any different? If you and I are going to learn the secret of contentment like Paul did, then we will have to go through the experience of being hungry, of suffering need, and even of having more than we need!

Honestly, most of us are probably in that place right now. If you have more than one meal in the pantry right now, you have more than you need.

I sincerely believe that this is one of the major, underlying factors in our fight to find joy in everything.

We get upset, we lose sight of what is going on, we get ungrateful for what we have, whatever it is, we are no longer content with what God has given us.

Paul clarified it further in his letter to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:6–8 CSB

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

“But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” (, NASB95)

Is that you? Are you content to just have food and clothing?

Seems crazy in our world, doesn’t it? You need this, you deserve that…

Yet the way to true, lasting joy and gain is through contentment.

So what is contentment? Contentment is the ability to say, regardless of the circumstance, that I am satisfied with where I am and what I have.

Remember when we said that the Stoics were the ones who really highlighted this idea of contentment?

The pinnacle of Stoic contentment was to be completely self-reliant emotionally, physically, etc., with absolutely no desire for anything.

God’s idea of contentment is something completely different, however.

That brings us to our second question…

2) Why Are We Content?

Before we even answer that question, let me ask you really quickly: what have we been talking about?

We have been talking about being content in whatever circumstance you find yourself in, especially in regards to material needs.

Are we clear on that?

Why is it important to understand that? Because we are about to look at one of the most misused promises in all the Bible.

Look with me at verse 13…

What forms the foundation and basis for our contentment on the Christian life?

Jesus and Jesus alone.

I cannot stress enough for you the truth we have seen the last two weeks: the source of our joy is God and what he is doing behind the scenes.

Why are we content? Because we know that a God who loves us enough to send His own Son to die a miserable death on our behalf is going to see us through every conceivable situation.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (, NASB95)

Romans 8:32 CSB

He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

When you are looking at your situation, you can say with confidence that you have exactly what you need!

This gets us back to the heart of the matter: we can be content with what we have, because God has already taken care of your deepest need!

He offered up his own Son for your sin, so you can trust that he will take care of you.

You may not feel like he is, and you may not understand, but you can be content and have joy and peace because you can be content in everything because of Jesus!

When you are looking at your situation, you can say with confidence that you have exactly what you need.

If you needed it, God would give it to you!

The source of our contentment is the God who is able to strengthen us to honor Him when we have nothing or when we have everything!

That’s why Paul could finish the letter this way.

After commending them again for the gift in verses 14-18, Paul makes a very confident statement. Look at verse 19…

There is no qualifier to this. He doesn’t say, “God probably will supply all your needs”. He doesn’t say, “Well, I sure hope God’s going to come through for you.”

No…”my God will supply all your needs!”

Not most, not many, but all your needs.

If you don’t have it, then you don’t need it!

I don’t know why God believes you don’t need it, but maybe it is just to make you pray and seek His face more, recognizing your genuine dependence on Him.

Perhaps His timing is different than yours, and He knows why you don’t need it.

We saw this Wednesday evening during our Zoom prayer meeting. We saw in Deuteronomy that God was slow to complete his promises because they couldn’t handle it if he completed it all at once.

Whatever the situation, the basis of your contentment is that you can endure whatever circumstances you find yourself in because the God who orchestrates everything is the same God who will provide what you need.

A quick note here: Verse 13 cannot be used to justify whatever you are going to do.

I have heard of athletes claiming this verse while they run or compete. I have heard people use this in regards to a promotion they feel they deserve or some other obstacle.

That isn’t the context of the verse! Always keep promises in their context!

Paul isn’t saying, “You’re going to set a personal record at that race because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You are going to beat cancer because you can do all things through strengthens you. You can get that job or ace that class or anything else.”

No; God is here reminding us that while we’re running, we can endure whatever comes up because of the strength God supplies.

In your battle with cancer or your broken down car or, on the flip side, your wildly successful business venture and career, you can still bring God honor and glory by living a contented life in the middle of it because of the strength He supplies.

God never promises us a better job or a nicer house or perfect health in His Word. He does promise to be with us, to be our unending, unchanging source of joy in every single situation and circumstance we face.

He promises that He will supply every need that we have.

That’s why Paul wraps up with this idea: (verse 20)

God deserves all the honor and all the glory and all the praise.

So let me ask you…how is your joy?