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“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13 is an oft-quoted bible verse. Here’s what people often mean by it:

“I can win at sports because Jesus gives me strength!”

“I can stand up to the bully through Christ who strengthens me!”

It’s like a meme that pre-dated the internet.

But the context of this beloved verse, as some of you well know, doesn’t lend itself to the kind of blank check that ‘90s Christian T-shirt manufacturers would like you to believe.

The apostle Paul isn’t facing giants, he’s practicing contentment. Here’s the verse in context:

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Paul wrote this section of his letter to the Philippians to thank them for sending a gift to help meet his needs, to support him in his ministry. But he wants them to know that he’s more thankful for their hearts than for the gift itself. He’s learned to be content, whether “being filled or going hungry, …having abundance and suffering need.”

Here in the wealthy West, we might need to stop and really consider what that meant for the apostle Paul. For reference, he shares some of his resume in 2 Corinthians 4:7-18.

Paul didn’t learn contentment by sitting in a comfy chair, sipping a latte, and meditating on the idea of it. He learned contentment through trials and practice. The apostle James shares the same principle in his epistle:

Consider it joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect work…

So how do we, in a world full of modern conveniences and comforts, grow in contentment?

Learning Contentment through Giving Thanks in All Circumstances

To be content means to be satisfied, happy, or pleased with what you have. So at the most basic level, we can learn contentment by stopping to recognize what we have—and that it has been graciously given to us by a good God.

When times are good, look around and give thanks for the Lord’s provision. When times are bad, do the same. It might be harder, but there is always something for which we can give thanks. Even if you have to start with the fact that you’re alive.

Sometimes it’s easier to practice this when things are either extraordinarily good or extraordinarily bad. It can be harder to recognize the goodness of God in our everyday mundane lives as we simply go with the flow and try to keep up with the pace of life. This is why, in any season, it is worthwhile to sit down and look around you. Take it in. And give thanks. Audibly, in a journal, expressed towards God and towards others: Give thanks.

Learning Contentment through Trials

Sometimes the Lord provides ample opportunity to grow in contentment through the trials we experience. Going through some really hard trials at the turn of the year has made some of our more recent challenges both harder and yet also easier to face. While we’re somewhat blindsided by each one that comes up, we’re also at least somewhat practiced at suffering and looking to the Lord in our need. When the last hard season has hardly even ended and you’re faced with another, it’s a lot. But the endurance muscles are still warm from use. They might be tired, but they at least know the drill.

We don’t automatically get contentment from our trials, however. The Apostle Paul had to “learn” contentment. And James reminded his readers to “consider it joy” when they faced trials. Mere meditation on the sidelines of life isn’t going to produce contentment in us without that contentment being tested in some way. But biblical meditation is essential if those trials are to produce real contentment in the Lord.

This is not and either-or proposition. It’s both-and.

So go ahead and enjoy your coffee as you dig into God’s word, hide it in your heart, and pray for God’s Spirit to empower you to grow in contentment. Just don’t imagine that sitting comfortably with your Bible is the end-game or even all of the means. Welcome God’s invitation to grow in faith, trust, endurance, and contentment with each new trial you face. And bring the Scriptures into your everyday moments, reminding yourself of Truth right in the middle of the challenges you’re facing.

Learning Contentment through Fasting

Even in easier seasons, however, there are practical ways we can grow in contentment. We can “discipline [ourselves] for the sake of godliness.” We don’t have to wait for the trials to come. We don’t have to seek them out, but it can be a good thing to practice dealing with less comfort than we’re used to.

In fact, Jesus expected His followers to do just that. In the Sermon on the Mount, He didn’t say, “If you fast…” He said “When you fast…” (Matt. 6:16-18)

Fasting is one of those spiritual disciplines that we maybe prefer to forget exists. If you’re starting to get uncomfortable, rest assured I’m stepping on my own toes, too.

Christians are not called to deny themselves for the sake of being super religious or having something to boast about (Jesus condemns those motives!). The point is to turn down those things that compete with the Lord and to turn our hunger and our desires toward Him, knowing that He is the One who can really satisfy our souls and meet our deepest needs.

Another purpose in fasting is to express grief or desperation in prayer. If I look around and think that the world is a big hot mess right now, but I keep stuffing my face at all hours like nothing is wrong, am I really concerned about what’s going on or am I just shrugging my shoulders and moving on to my next meal?

It’s hard to eat when you’re grieving. When you’ve lost someone or long for something so deeply that it hurts. Am I willing to make myself uncomfortable [at least some of the time] so that my prayers come with an earnestness that reflects a heart that grieves over a fallen world?

One very practical result of saying “no” to a meal or two is the realization that we can, in fact, survive on less than we usually consume. We can learn to be satisfied with less by the practice of fasting.

Learning Contentment through Putting Others First; “Put off” and “Put on”

Now, short of fasting (or perhaps in addition to fasting), we can look for opportunities to put the needs and desires of others ahead of our own. Do you take the biggest slice of cake or offer it to someone else? Do you rush in for the best seats or look for others you can honor above yourself?

Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we ought to do it for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) If there’s an area where you can’t bring yourself to say no for a short while, or where you can’t bear the thought of someone getting the better deal, that’s probably an area where you need to learn contentment. Confess it, pray about it, yes. But then “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

Roll up your sleeves and give or share in that area rather than simply trying to muster enough willpower to forgo the thing to no real purpose. Look for opportunities to celebrate the good things others have rather than defaulting to envy. And give thanks for what the Lord has given you rather than muttering about what you don’t have. As the Apostle Paul exhorts us in Ephesians chapter 4: “put off” the old and “put on” the new.

Learning Contentment through “Roughing It” a Bit

Aside from direct commands around thanksgiving, fasting, and putting others first, it’s possible and profitable to stretch yourself in other tangible ways. We’re getting into extra-biblical territory here, so take this as an invitation to think creatively about your own situation rather than feeling like you have to copy-and-paste. 😉

My family is into backpacking. We enjoy being out in God’s creation, hiking, and sleeping under the stars. But it isn’t always a walk in the park. And that’s also part of why we do it.

Our lives in the West can be so comfortable and controlled and disconnected from how people have had to live and survive for most of human history. It can be argued that we are weaker for it—physically, mentally, and perhaps even spiritually.

How ready am I for discomfort if I spend everyday of the year in a temperature-controlled box? If all of my furniture is selected to be aesthetically pleasing and super comfy? These are wonderful modern conveniences (for which we should give thanks!), but we do learn from what we live.

How ready am I to kneel down and serve others if I have carefully manicured hair, nails, and everything? If I am not used to getting dirty—ever?

When we go backpacking as a family, we often sit on rocks or the ground. We sleep in hammocks or on mats …on the ground. We hike in the heat. We sleep in the cold. We take care of our business in the woods. We don’t have access to indoor running water for days.

We have to gather and filter our drinking water. Sometimes it tastes great, other times, not so much. We have to bring our own food, so it’s a different kind of fare than we eat at home. We’ve learned first-hand the Proverb that “A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.” (Proverbs 27:7) Because just about any backpacking food tastes amazing after walking ten to fifteen miles in a day.

We don’t know what the future holds for us or for our sons. But we’d like to think that we are preparing our boys to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He calls them to. If they need to hike into the mountains to reach isolated villagers in some foreign country, well, they’ll have at least a little bit of training under their belts.

You may not need to get into backpacking. That’s not the point. But maybe you can find ways to stretch yourself, to step out of your comfort zone.

Go outside on a day when the weather isn’t ideal. Sit on the floor rather than a chair sometimes, if you are able. Walk outside barefoot just to try it out and see if your feet get less sensitive over time. Go for a long walk or do some other kind of exercise that gets your heart rate up.

To kind of flip the script, I would argue that these things are actually good for us beyond just the development of contentment and character. These things are healthy. Our attachment to comfort can rob us of more than just contentment if we don’t take some initiative to step out of our modern boxes and pursue a different path than the usual way-of-least-resistance to which we’re all so accustomed.

Learning Contentment through Christian Biography

If you need some inspiration and perspective, try reading or listening to stories of Christians who have served and suffered for the Lord throughout church history.

When I listened to Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper earlier this year, I was struck by how believers who knew that persecution was coming, knew that they would be thrown into prison and barely be given enough to survive…these believers began to fast ahead of their suffering. We might think we’d need to “tank up” in order to last longer. But these precious saints wanted to “tank up” in a different way. They wanted to know the nearness of God in their trial before the worst of it came to them. They wanted to be practiced at depending upon the Lord for strength so that they would not give in to their torturers.

Our family backpacking is still just a field trip compared to that.

But this is the kind of perspective we gain when we read the stories of those who have gone before us: a “cloud of witnesses” like in Hebrews 11 who encourage us to run the race with endurance a la Hebrews 12:1-3.

Contentment Isn’t Learned in a Vacuum

Contentment isn’t a static virtue–it moves with us or it isn’t there at all. It doesn’t grow in a vacuum, sequestered away from real life. It’s a deep joy and satisfaction in the Lord that leads us to give thanks to Him in all things (1 Thess. 5:16-18), to put the needs of others ahead of our own, and to endure all kinds of circumstances, whether “being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” with joy–for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.

I hope you can gather from this article that aside from the straightforward biblical call on our lives, I’m not prescribing any particular practice of self-denial, as though backpacking (or whatever form of roughing it appeals most to you) is some kind of biblical ideal. But I am trying to say that merely creating a Bible-centered Zen garden away from all the noise of ordinary life isn’t the biblical ideal either. We might imagine that we will grow more content in a frictionless, vacuum-like environment, but that’s a peace that’s based on having the just-right environment, not a peace that grows in the heart, as a fruit of the Spirit, in the midst of all of life’s joys and sorrows.

How have you seen the Lord work contentment in your heart through trials? Or through voluntary fasting or other forms of self-denial?