Why should you be unhappy?
Have you ever slept in a thatched-roof, mud hut?
Thirty years ago, I had the pleasure of enjoying the hospitality of an extended family in southern Zimbabwe. They had so little and yet were so generous and joyful!
On a different trip to Ecuador, our mission team took one day to assemble a home for a young, single mom with two kids. Her extended family had prepared a concrete pad for the home. All we did was assemble the walls, put on the metal roof, and paint it. The entire home was 160 square feet: two 8 x 10-foot rooms. That’s smaller than the office in which I’m writing. And guess what? The family was thrilled!
Here in the United States, discontentment abounds. And yet, we have more material goods and comforts than most of the rest of the world.
So why should we be unhappy when, like Paul, we can learn to be content whatever the circumstances?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines happy as “feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.”
This world teaches us that we are to pursue happiness as an end goal. We’re told that if we can buy the right things, look a certain way, or experience the latest (fill in the blank), we’ll be happy. But happiness based on these things is fleeting.
This is because of a concept called ‘hedonic adaptation.’ Essentially, this means that we return to a state of normal after the experience of pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure—and any happiness it produces—is fleeting at best.
Contentment, on the other hand, is much longer lasting if it is rooted in the correct object.
In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote from prison (see Phil. 1:13), “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 4:11b-12, ESV)
The word Paul uses here to express his contentment is derived from a Stoic word meaning ‘self-sufficient.’ F.F. Bruce explains that Paul’s use of the word was not to express sufficiency in himself (as the Stoics claimed), but rather “so complete a dependence on the Christ who lives within him that all else is, by comparison, expendable” (Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, p. 142). In fact, Paul states this clearly in the next verse (13): “I can do all things through him (Christ) who strengthens me.”
Some people have told me that I’m a bit crazy with the amount of hiking my sons and I have done (All you hikers know the joy of the accomplishment!). Not only do we love the experience of being together, accomplishing the goal of reaching the summit of a mountain, and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation, but there is a greater purpose in it.
Part of the reason we go hiking is to intentionally deprive ourselves of the comforts our culture provides. Being outdoors and surviving on what you can carry on your back, helps provide perspective. It’s good to disconnect from relying upon technology and an abundance of possessions, so that we can better understand our reliance upon Christ.
Paul is expressing this sentiment here. He writes to thank the Philippian church for their gift of support, but it’s almost like he is embarrassed to receive it from them. He expresses his joy over receiving their gift but centers that joy primarily in their expression of love and concern for him as well as the credit they receive from God for their sacrificial generosity. Then, he states that his sufficiency is from Christ and is not dependent upon a gift which helped him to be “well supplied.”
Dear Saints, how dependent are you upon the comforts and conveniences of this world for your happiness? Do you find yourself unhappy when things don’t go your way, or you don’t have everything you desire (materially)? All of us have experienced disappointment and discontentment over the last year and half due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve had normal comforts removed, trips cancelled, and plans changed. The point is not to deny the negative emotions we feel. Instead, we acknowledge them and bring them before the Lord, asking Him to use our feelings to reveal what is going on in our heart.
As Paul said, our joy comes from knowing the Lord is near and that, no matter the circumstance, our names are written in the book of life (see Phil. 4:2-5). He is sufficient.
Do you experience a deep contentment in Christ?
This doesn’t come naturally—it is a learned state of mind. But I assure you, it’s worth learning.