Content in Christ, Pt. 5

If God allows you to walk to it, He will empower you to walk through it. God does not make mistakes in the assignments He gives to us.

Content in Christ, Pt. 5

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

(Philippians 4:13)

Philippians 4:13 is awesome! Paul wrote that he could do anything through Jesus. The Greek word translated "strengthens" is endynamoo. (You can see the root word for English words like "dynamic" and "dynamo".) The same can be said of you and me. When we walk with Jesus and He guides us to accomplish certain tasks, then we can know without any doubt that we will do all He requires of us to do, and that includes even suffering well. Suffering is hard. But remember Philippians 4:8, and fix your mind on the good and wholesome, all those things listed in verse 8. Do not fixate on the negative, comparisons, the lack, the hard, the difficult. We have a choice in the matter.

Tony Merida and Francis Chan insightfully write,

"What do you think you need in order to be content? Do you need more stuff? Do you need a bigger house that makes it on HGTV? Do you need a car with a pool in it? Do you need a different place to live? Or do you think a mud hut in Africa would make you more content? Paul is teaching us the hard, sobering truth that the rare jewel of Christian contentment has nothing to do with our circumstances. It's found in Christ. We need Him."

(Exalting Jesus in Philippians, p. 186)

The secret is found in Christ. In and through Him, we can do all things. If God allows you to walk to it, He will empower you to walk through it. God does not make mistakes in the assignments He gives to us. We should not, however, quote this verse when it is clearly not God's will. "He isn't saying that 'I can break these chains, body slam these guards, and run out of this prison with 4.4 speed—through Christ who strengthens me!'" (Ibid.) I cannot claim this verse, take a basketball, jump up to 10 feet, and dunk it. It just is not going to happen! I know athletes mean well, but they are misleading when they say, "Anyone can do what I do; you just have to work hard." Unless God has gifted you to do it, AND you train rigorously for many years, you will never be able to outswim Katie Ledecky or run faster than Sha' Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles.

Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

I will close with the following life applications pertaining to contentment:

Meditate on the good. Win the battle in your mind. Do not let your thoughts drift toward the negative or be worried. (If you don't have it already, grab my free ebook, Winning the Battle in Your Mind.)
Jesus is better, awesome, and enough! When our focus, adoration, and worship are on Him, we will find that Jesus is better. I love the song, written by Nick Hardeman at Cross Church in Springdale, AR, entitled "Jesus Is Better".
Ask God right now to help you grow in this grace of contentment. What a wonderful way to live life on this earth. The key to contentment is the key to any other worthy aspiration, and that is Jesus, being laser-focused on Him, in sweet communion and intimacy with Him. The older I get and the longer I walk with and serve the Lord, the more cognizant I am that I can do nothing apart from Christ. I am totally dependent on Him.

Here at DFEA, we are grateful for all your prayers and financial support that empower us to keep going strong, doing what God has assigned us to do. If we can pray for you, please email your requests to: pray@dfea.com