The Secret of Being Content

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Phil 4:11

Reread the verse above, and then ask yourself if that statement is true or false in your life. Several years ago, my children were enthralled with a movie entitled An American Tail. It was the story of a family of mice fleeing Russia because they were tired of living in fear of the cats. They were immigrating to America because they had heard that there were “no cats in America.” As the movie progresses, it is revealed that the cats themselves started the rumor as a way to ensnare the mice. Sound familiar?
Many people today are unhappy with their circumstances. When discontentment arises, they are quick to surmise that it must be because they are not where God wants them to be. They begin looking for a different job, another place to live, a better church, or even a new spouse. They believe if they change their environment, they will find peace and happiness. Maybe the truth is they are exactly where God wants them to be, but the problem is they, themselves, don’t want to be there. As a result, their lives are filled with anxiety and turmoil because they are “kicking against the goads.” If everything around you makes you miserable, maybe it’s not what’s around you but what’s inside you that is causing your distress. Just a thought.
Leo Tolstoy once wrote a short story called The Three Questions. In it, a man was trying to find the answer to three questions because he knew those answers would be the secret to always doing what was right. Those three questions were: When is the best time to do something? Who is the most important person? And, what is the right thing to do? I believe the answers to those questions can help us all find a little more peace and contentment in our lives.
When is the best time to do something? “There is only one important time, and that time is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion.” Who is the most important person? “The most important person is always the one with whom you are, the person who stands right before you. For who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future?” And finally, what is the right thing to do? “The most important thing to do is to do good to and for the person standing before you.”
So, when Paul says in Philippians that he has found the secret to being content, I have to wonder if that might be what he meant. Instead of always looking for some external solution to your restlessness and general dissatisfaction, open your eyes, your spiritual eyes, and ask yourself those three questions. It could be that God has placed you in this particular place, with these people, and with these problems and struggles “for such a time as this.” Live your life one day at a time. Help those in your path today. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Allow God to work through you, in the place he has put you, so that he can perfect you.
May your heart and soul be filled with the perfect peace of God as you submit to his will.