Contentment

I was casting about online tonight, essentially just slumming around while deciding whether or not to do work at 3am (no Friday classes, hooray), and I was struck by how much peace I felt despite what I would describe objectively as a crushing workload bearing down on me within the next week or so. Thinking about this calm reminded me of the following.

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need."

Philippians 4:11-12

A dear friend of mine once highlighted these two verses in my Bible using a colored pencil. On my first reading, and during many subsequent readings, I had interpreted this passage to mean that Paul (the writer here) had learned to feel content even when without our natural human desires from food and shelter to entertainment and free time. This passage often encouraged me to pursue my relationship with God because I, too, desired to feel this contentment without any tangible fulfillment. The last time I read this passage and took it to heart was perhaps a year and a half ago.

Upon reexamining the passage, I found that while my previous interpretation was not entirely incorrect, I had been very much misguided. True, Paul writes about facing need. But what I had completely missed was that Paul speaks of abundance in the same breath, as an equal to need, and so reveals a common flaw in our approach towards God.

The need that Paul primarily refers to is hunger, a desire that Paul surely felt much of in his life while incarcerated. On the flip side, the abundance that Paul speaks of refers to the many gifts that he is showered with by the Philippians (4:15) as well as elsewhere in his letters. But the manner that Paul speaks of this hunger and plenty is of adversity to both! Paul does not have preference for one or the other, nor does he complain about either. In fact, Paul talks of "facing" both, and in doing so reveals to us a natural tendency we have in our relationships with God.

Firstly, we might think of "plenty" as having been given all that we might desire. When I think of having "plenty", I think of having a loving and beautiful family and more than enough to get along comfortably with. One might also think of exceeding riches, or great stockpiles of food, or long periods of free time. Paul tells us that he has learned to "be content" while "facing plenty". I am inclined to believe that I have not nearly the wisdom of Paul, so therefore I am forced to conclude by his words that there lies some peril or anguish to be had in facing plenty.

Secondly, we might think too easily of the obstacle that Paul refers to in "hunger" or "need". I for one immediately think of the solution to a problem of need being whatever is needed. That is, when I am thirsty, the solution is water. With this mindset, one might wonder at Paul's statement that he has "(finally) learned the secret of facing... hunger". With even a less naive way of thinking, one might simply conclude (as I did) that the secret was that God would take away his hunger by some supernatural method, and therefore, Paul is saying that we ought to rely on God instead of worldly solutions, like water.

But Paul is not saying that when he faced hunger, he relied on God and so his hunger was taken away from him, nor is he saying something similar about having plenty. His contentment arises not from fulfillment of his needs, but rather from his discipleship under Christ. Too often do we lump together in our minds our worldly needs with our relationship with God. When we are hungry, we ask to be fed, and when we are full, we give thanks for having been fed. Though Jesus time and time again tells us to not worry about our earthly needs (Matt 6:25, 11:28, 15:32), we feel most the urgency to pray to God when we are in need. On the other hand, too infrequently do we feel the need to pray when we have plenty, as in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). Paul reveals to us that these situations are the same, because neither want nor plenty ought determine our current state of being, as we are in Christ, and so our sufficiency is in him. Truly, Paul finds Christ sufficient in both times of need and times of plenty! As Paul says in verse 13 ("I can do all things through him who strengthens me."), our states of being are determined by the strength that Christ gives us to complete the tasks given to us as part our discipleship in him. Only in this way does Paul know "how to be brought low" and "how to abound".

One last note: reading commentaries is exceedingly helpful.