This week’s devotions are based on “The Key” Week 5: “Let Grace Lead Your Finances!” (WATCH HERE)
Philippians 4:11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I will be the first to admit. I struggle at times with contentment.
We are bombarded in our world with messages to make us discontent with our current circumstances. Watch any advertisement that comes up on TV, YouTube, Facebook or anywhere else and the goal of that advertisement is to make you discontent with your current circumstances and desire to have a need filled with their product. As you scroll Facebook or Instagram, are there not times when you desire the life or vacation you see your friends or random people have? Would you not agree that no matter what your present station in life is, there is a subtle unrest in your heart yearning for something different? If you’re at work this morning, you may be longing for retirement. If you are in retirement, you may be wishing you had something meaningful to do. If you have plenty of resources, you may be longing for the next level of social status.
Discontent is not an amount of money or material things. Discontent is a matter of the heart.
Really, the heart has been discontent from the beginning because we are all born with a sinful nature. Our sinful nature thinks first of ourselves. Ask any mom who has had to wake up to an infant crying for food. Our first reactions in life are caused by discontent, even though we are way too young to label it as such. To be clear, I’m not saying a person shouldn’t express their needs when they have them, but again, discontent is a matter of the heart, not a situation or station in life.
Paul wrote to the Philippians in 4:11-3 two times, “I have LEARNED to be content…” Contentment has to be learned. It is not natural to us. He had to LEARN the secret to being content.
What is the secret to contentment?
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
This popular passage is on may plaques and wall hangings and often applied to every situation in life. Yes, it is true we can get through any situation in life with the strength the LORD provides, however, Paul writes this as the answer to discontentment. I can be CONTENT because the LORD gives me strength.
Discontent comes when my trust and hope are in material things. Contentment comes when my trust and hope are in the LORD.
So how does that work? If I have plenty. I am content because I trust that the LORD has provided. If I am in want, I am content because I know the LORD will provide all my needs. When the Lord is the strength of our heart, our heart can always be content in the LORD, no matter what our external circumstances, our internal circumstance rests in the strength of the LORD.
Here’s the truth: When God’s grace leads our finances, we can always be content.
Apply: Evaluate your heart today. List the things in your life right now that are leading you to be discontent. What truth of God’s Word can replace the messaging of discontent and lead you to be content in today’s circumstances?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for providing every day for my needs. Forgive my heart of discontent and replace it with contentment that only comes from your presence and strength. AMEN.