The Secret of Being Content

Everyone has a story of how God’s hand of mercy was on them at one point or another in their lives. An event that you simply could not explain rationally, but it radically changed your life. Have you ever wondered why this happens? I believe that it’s one way that God allows us to catch a glimpse of His glory. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to step back from our normal lives and reflect. I know for myself, these types of events have taught me the secret of being content.

Philippians 4:13 teaches us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. This is the conclusion to the two verses in front of that one, Philippians 4:11-12, which speak of being content in all situations. I believe that being content in all we have or do is one of the most difficult practices of our faith. Allow me to give a personal example from my own life.

In the spring of 1993, I was reassigned from a military base in Germany to another within the country. I was one of only four people to relocate from the first base and therefore had some corporate knowledge that was deemed vital to the success of the new work place. After a few months, I applied for a new job assignment that became available. I was excited about this opportunity for it would allow me to fly all over Europe, Asia, and Africa, and would provide additional pay. This seemed like perfect timing especially since my wife and I were about to have our second child.

I was accepted for the new job position and only needed the approval and release from my current job to begin the new one. I was told, however, that I could not take the new job until more people were qualified to do my current job. While this makes perfect sense to me now, it didn’t then and only made me frustrated and angry. The new job was filled within two weeks by someone else. It was obvious that it wasn’t meant to be.

I can say that now…it wasn’t meant to be, but both I and my wife felt disappointment for a long time over losing a better job opportunity. Three months later, I met the person that took “my” job. He was very gracious and said that he was sorry that I didn’t get the position, but not that sorry all the same. He loved the job.

This brings me to being content in all things. I know that I wasn’t content and it showed in my work, my relationships, and in my trust in God’s timing for my life. One night, in the fall, I arrived at work to find out that an aircraft had crashed into a mountain. There were no survivors. My soul ached and I cried, even more so when I realized that the person who got “my” job was on that flight. If I had gotten my way, it would have been me who perished on that mountainside. I went home and told my wife and we realized that we had been angry and frustrated when God was actually protecting us.

Why does it sometimes take such tragedy to make us realize that our lives are not our own? As Christians, we gladly claim to forfeit our lives for the cause of Christ. Yet, we continually live divergent to that claim. Only God knows the whole picture. Our job is to trust Him and be content with all things.