I Am Content

         We are often called upon to adapt to our conditions. We have a lot of squirrels in our neighborhood and when the leaves fall off of the trees, you can spot their nests in the tops of the trees. That would have to be a precarious place to have your home, but the squirrels seem to enjoy it and adapt right well. I think of my past and realize  that I have had to adapt to a lot of different situations. I didn't have my own bedroom until I was about 13 years old. at first, I slept on the couch in the living room and then after we got a gas station, I slept on a fold out couch in the kitchen. Then the house suffered fire damage, Dad built a new one, or at least started it and we lived in the finished basement for the next 6 years. I had my first bed that didn't fold up in the room with the furnace and the 300 oil tank. Then came college, the U. S. Navy and a number of apartments and homes where we lived usually in something that we could afford and as big as possible. Every time we moved in to a new place, we painted it. Philippians 4:11 says, "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

         Paul here teaches us another important lesson in his statement, “...in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Paul probably had to adjust to a lot of different places to sleep for the night. He probably didn't have a gigantic summer home on the island of Malta or a vacation spot in Rome. Some of his dwelling places were like the prison in Rome or when Paul and Silas spent the night in a Philippian prison. In that place, they were singing hymns at midnight when the LORD made an earthquake and the jail fell apart. We are on this earth but for a short number of years when compared to eternity. Our sixty, seventy, eighty and sometimes 100 years are but a drop in the bucket when compared to our final home. We probably spend about one third of our lives in a bed of some sorts or another trying to get our bodies refurbished for the next day. Paul's life was filled with unexpected events from being beaten, thrown in jail, shipwrecked and being condemned for what he was doing. In all of it, he still told the message that we are to be content in whatever state we find ourselves. When you look around you, it becomes evident that there are many who are worse off than you are and that there are many who are better off than you are. We can have our own pity party or we can learn to be content and since God's Word emphasizing the contentment aspect, that is what we should be doing. There are things in this life that have a high priority, such as the spreading of the Gospel message, but there are some things, such as our personal contentment that are low on the list. My bed is secure while that of a squirrel is bouncing around in the breeze in the top of a tree. I thank God for my situation in this life in this moment. God has always provided and even though all of them are temporary, God is preparing a place for you and me in heaven according to John 14:1-6. Praise God today for His provisions in all of our lives.