Philippians 4: The Secret of Contentment in Every Situation

Introduction

How would you finish this sentence: "I'll be happy if…"? A more fulfilling job, financial stability, less stress, an electric car, a spouse, a more peaceful marriage. This is how Craig Palmer, pastor at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, opens his message in the series "Living a Gospel-Centered Life."

As a child, he would page through a toy store catalog, ticking off everything he wanted, especially the LEGO sets: "One day that amazing LEGO set will be mine, and I'll be happy." Now that we are adults, lottery ads still promise us a better life. Messages like these can plant discontent in our souls.

Drawing on Philippians 4:1-13, the preacher points out three situations of discontent and four hard-won pieces of advice from Paul for entering a life of contentment.

Message Outline

1. The Grass Is Always Greener Elsewhere

The saying is familiar: the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. We end up valuing what we don't have more than what we do.
Some have added a word of caution: if your neighbor's grass is greener, their water bill is probably higher. And even greener grass still needs mowing.
The aim of the message: to seek the wisdom that leads to contentment today, by listening to Paul's advice to the church in Philippi.

2. Find Your Center in the Lord

The first situation: a disagreement between two women respected in the community, Euodia and Syntyche. We don't know what their dispute was about, but Paul addresses it in a letter read aloud before the whole congregation. "Can you imagine the embarrassment?"
The key is in a repeated phrase: "in the Lord." Stand firm in the Lord, be of the same mind in the Lord, rejoice always in the Lord.
"Lord" means master. He is the one who decides, the one who leads their lives, the one who sets how their discontent should be handled.
In his youth, in Western Australia, Craig Palmer played Australian football. The coach kept saying, "Play the ball, not the man." When you let the opponent distract you, you forget what really matters.
At the end of chapter 3, Paul reminded us that Christ's disciples have their citizenship in heaven. What you are going through now is not everything. "Don't put all your hopes, your happiness and your security in the basket of this one conflict."
He quotes a pastor who described marriage as a triangle: God, the husband and the wife. When the bond between the spouses breaks, the bond with God can remain. By turning to him, the couple can stand shoulder to shoulder rather than face to face in front of the problem.
To single people who want to marry, he advises putting priority on a spouse who follows Jesus: having Jesus, "the one who is content," as the third part of the marriage is a lifeline.

3. Lay Your Worries Before God

The second situation: discontent that takes the form of anxiety, a tension in the face of a future threat, real or imagined, that is out of our control.
In Western society, it has almost become a value: if you aren't stressed, you're not doing things right. Advertising plays on this, and young parents are bombarded with fears about food, hygiene and education.
Paul's antidote: "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." To pray is to actively seek God's kingdom in your life, believing that he takes an interest in you.
Praying out loud can help, instead of brooding in your thoughts. The psalms of lament give us the words: "I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears." Paul also speaks of confessing "with your mouth" (Romans 10:9), and Jesus asks the blind man Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?"
Writing in a journal, then tearing out the page and throwing it away: a man he was mentoring found this very freeing.
Praying with others and receiving prayer: a network of about twenty people supports the young adults ministry, and the pastor can rely on their intercession.
The promise: "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." Often, we only recognize it afterward. The preacher tells how he would feel anger rising just from seeing a certain person's car. As he brought his request, "God, take this away from me," he experienced a supernatural change of heart.
1 Peter 5:6-7 invites us to cast all our worries on God, because he cares for us. The words of the Lord's Prayer ("Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one") let us bring our requests even before anxiety rises: a preemptive strike.

4. Fill Your Life with What Is Good

After emptying out what weighs us down, what do we put in the vessel? Paul gives a list of eight things, a kind of "replacement therapy": whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.
With his wife, Craig Palmer loves kayaking on the river near their home. They take part in the national bird count, with an app in hand. He cites a reflection he heard recently: in a world in rebellion, birds do God's creative will. They simply do what they were created for, a glimpse of heaven.
Kayaking may not be for you. You can read the book of an inspiring, selfless Christian, listen to a testimony, or share at dinner what you are thankful for today. It becomes food for the soul.
Think of one or two things that come to mind: "That would be exactly what I need this week."

5. Follow the Example of Those Who Live Well

Paul adds one last "whatever": "The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me, do these things."
If you're short on ideas, ask someone how they nourish their soul. That person may be sitting right next to you, a generation or several ahead of you.
If they answer only "pray and read the Bible," ask someone else, or ask them: "What do you pray? What do you read?" It goes deeper than that when it is truly lived.
Many life lessons are caught more than taught. The example of those you admire will influence your decisions and, in the end, your contentment.
During a day with young adults, the team had them meet men and women who have followed Jesus well: finance experts, a young mother, people back from the mission field. As they listened, they saw a unified life with little anxiety.
"And the God of peace will be with you." When you put these principles into practice, God encourages you and confirms in your heart that you are making wise choices.

6. Draw on God's Strength

The third situation: the Philippians' financial gift for Paul's needs. He doesn't even say thank you, and you might think him ungrateful. In reality, Paul wanted to be as independent as possible so as not to be a burden and not to be accused of wrong motives. He worked, notably making tents.
He doesn't despise the gift: he testifies that his relationship to money, to food and to everything he needs has been transformed. "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it."
"Could you say the same? Could I say the same?" Paul isn't saying life is easy. The word "learned" suggests an initiation: it wasn't automatic at his conversion, he grew into it through experience.
The simple answer: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." An independence joined to a dependence, a strength breathed in by God. And this "all things" means being content in little as well as in abundance.
This is neither positive thinking nor ignoring suffering, but the concrete experience of a creature connected to its Creator. The discontented psalmist of Psalm 73 says it: "My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Craig Palmer is living his last month on the pastoral team. He doesn't know what is coming, much or little, but he is at peace.
In 2004, he was a mechanical engineer and his wife a math teacher. He felt called to a two-year trial as a part-time youth pastor at Riverton Baptist. At the same time, their first son was born: they went from 1.8 full-time incomes to 0.4. They had saved 20,000 dollars to get by.
They laid down their questions ("Are we going to make it?"), asked God to guard their hearts from jealousy, and were encouraged by missionary friends who had left for Mozambique with five children. God strengthened them: his former employer invited him to come back and work, with a raise, on an occasional basis. After eighteen months, the conviction was there.
Paul could have finished the sentence "I'll be happy if…" with: if I got out of prison, if I had a wife, if I had enough supporters, if they stopped beating me. But he is happy and content thanks to the spiritual strength that comes from his Father, through his Spirit.

Key Takeaways

Contentment is learned: Paul was initiated into it through experience, he did not receive it automatically.
Finding your center "in the Lord" puts your conflicts in their proper place: they are not your whole life.
Bring your worries to God, out loud, in writing or with others, and his peace will guard your heart and your thoughts.
Replace what you have laid down with what is true, just, pure and lovely, and look for examples to follow.
The secret lies in the strength God gives: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Personal Application

How would you finish the sentence "I'll be happy if…" today?
Is there a conflict in your life where you need to "play the ball, not the man" and find your center in the Lord again?
What worry do you keep brooding over without ever truly bringing it to God? Can you say it to him out loud this week?
What good, true or lovely thing can you let into your life this week?
Who around you lives out this contentment, and what could you ask them about how they nourish their soul?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the secret of contentment according to Paul in Philippians 4?

Paul says he has learned to be content in every situation, in abundance and in need. For Craig Palmer, this secret doesn't fall from the sky on the day of conversion: Paul was initiated into it through experience. The answer is found in verse 13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It is a strength received from God.

How do you bring your worries to God according to Philippians 4:6?

Craig Palmer offers several concrete ideas: pray out loud instead of brooding, draw on the psalms of lament, write in a journal and then throw the page away, pray with others and receive prayer from fellow believers. The promise is that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

What does "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" mean?

In its context, this "all things" refers to being content in little as well as in abundance. Craig Palmer sees in it an independence joined to a dependence: a strength that God breathes into us. It is neither positive thinking nor a denial of suffering, but the concrete experience of a creature connected to its Creator.