The Path to Contentment - Conclusion

A number of years ago, an event took place that I remember all too well. Typhoon Hagupit was battering my wife's village. We were genuinely afraid. A year previously Typhoon Haiyan had devastated the area. The last thing they needed was another huge typhoon. We somehow managed to get through to our family by phone. Our sister-in-law shared with us a short video that surprised us. In the middle of all the chaos and the fear, my daughter's cousins were huddled at the top of a stairwell in their grandmother's house... laughing like hyenas. It really took us aback. Here were these kids, completely with it but totally unafraid while a huge and highly dangerous typhoon barrelled through their village. How could that even be possible? But then, I've noticed that a lot about children from the Philippines. They are among the happiest I have seen anywhere. It doesn't seem to matter if they live in a palace or a slum. They are happy. They are contented. They have learned the secret mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12‭-‬13 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/php.4.12-13.NIVUK And what is that secret? Firstly, it's the understanding that our circumstances are not what makes us contented. We decide when we are contented. Secondly, that if we decide when we are contented then there is nothing, and I mean nothing, preventing us from being contented now. Thirdly, that for us to become and remain contented we need to control those three desires: for position - to be superior to everyone else; for perception - to know God's deepest secrets, or sometimes just to understand why things are happening; for possessions - to use our relationship with God to get what we want. David ends his psalm with these words: Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and for evermore. Psalms 131:3 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.131.3.NIVUK Paul ends that section from Philippians with these words: I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/php.4.13.NIVUK Why is that? Because when we decide to be contented in every situation, God meets and is there to help us. He is there to give us the strength of will to fight off the discontented thoughts and stick by our decision. It may seem improbable, even impossible, but with God we can do it: we can be contented, right here, right now. Every country affected by Coronavirus is sitting on a mental health time bomb, waiting to explode as soon as the crisis is past. We don't have to be part of that. If we can learn right now to be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves then we will get through this. Moreover, when our Lockdown is lifted, we will be grateful for every new possibility we will experience. But do you know what stands between us and contentment? It's not Lockdown. It's not Coronavirus. It's not our economies or work situation. It's not even our health. It's us. We are the ones who can choose to sing "It is well, it is well with my soul" even in the midst of this disaster. We are the ones who can choose to be contented in any and every circumstance. We are the ones who can choose to be as contented as a weaned child with their mother. We can do it. So now you know this vital truth, what do you choose?