Contentment and Joy

“…I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:10-13 NKJV, emphasis added).”

Philippians is often considered to be a “letter of joy.” Paul begins Philippians by telling the church how he gives thanks for them with joy, then tells them that he will stay with them longer so their faith can go on joyfully. He goes on to say that he is preaching so that he’ll be able to rejoice in the Day of the Lord, and that the church is rejoicing with him over that.

As he comes into this final chapter of the letter, he tells the believers to rejoice in the Lord always—and again, he says—rejoice. Now he will reveal to them the secret of his joy and of his contentment.

The word Paul uses in verse 11 to say he’s content means that he is sufficient in himself, and he needs no outside support. It means he is satisfied. And he’s telling us how he did that. Your translation may say here that he has learned the secret of “being full” and “being hungry.” There are three things I can see here that will help us experience Paul’s contentment and joy.

1. First, Paul learned to be content. He says he learned to be content in whatever state he was. Whatever his circumstances, he was satisfied. But he wants us to know this was something he had to learn. “Learning” there is the word mantháno, which means he had been learning as a disciple.

This speaks to us of gradual learning. It’s the word Jesus used when He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me (Matthew 11:29)…” The writer of Hebrews uses this word when he says that although Jesus was a son, “…He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).”

Paul wants us to know that there will be a process. You are going to have to go through some things in order to have poise and confidence in trying circumstances. There may be increasing levels of difficulty that God will use to make you grow in Christ-likeness and in wisdom. 

It’s wise to realize together with Paul that there are some things that can only be learned. As Spirit-filled people, we believe in the miraculous. That’s a good thing, but it can deceive us where it concerns our character, because there are some things that can only be learned. They cannot be given. There is no laying on of hands that will cause us to be content in whatever state you find yourself. It can only be learned.

Paul also wants us to know that time is required. Implicit in the ideas of learning and going through a process is the requirement of time. The higher we go, or the longer we go along, the better perspective we have on where we’ve been. We may realize that some of the things we feared were not the real dangers. We may come to see that some of our connections and some of our ways of responding to things and people were harmful. In this way God helps us to do better as we go along. He helps us to see how we’re approaching things and reacting to frustrations. 

When you bake a cake you need the right ingredients — but the final step is one you can’t control; it’s a step you just have to trust. Heat and time are required to make it all come together before anyone can enjoy a cake, and it’s the same with us. 

What kind of state am I in? What am I experiencing right now? God is trying to teach me to be content in that state. I need to recognize it will be a process and it will take some time. There is no pill or prayer that will give me instant spiritual satisfaction in different challenges.

2. The second thing we need to see is that God has a plan of personal instruction, a plan that’s tailored just for me.

Paul says that he learned to be full and hungry, to abound and suffer need. This is actually a passive verb: it doesn’t say that he learned, it really says that he has been instructed. Most of the modern versions translate it as, “I have learned the secret.” And that’s a bit closer to the meaning. It means that he has been taught the secret.

This word is totally different from the one he had used to say that he had learned to be content. The Greek word is muéo, which doesn’t mean he learned something over time; it means he has been initiated into something. In the Ancient Mediterranean world, you didn’t just join a religion. You often had to be initiated into the religion.

The word Paul uses, muéo, is related to the word mystery. Many of the religions in the Roman world are called “mystery religions” because their beliefs were secret and you had to be initiated into the mysteries, into the secret ceremonies of the religion.

We don’t really have something like this in our society. Perhaps the closest thing to it would be a secret society, in which there are different levels. The people at the bottom don’t know what those who are higher up in the group are doing. And you can’t just join, but people have to sponsor you before you can become a member.

Only when you were initiated into the group could you begin to learn more of its secrets. And it’s interesting that Pau