Mar 01 2008
Art of Contentment
Do you realize that you can be at home anywhere in the world? As I prepare for a trip to Prague to visit my wife, Dr. Mickie Mathes, I recall a car commercial that I once saw on television. The black and white commercial featured a man dressed in a trench coat. He walks across that famous bridge in Prague and he is talking about an automobile, but viewers never actually see the automobile.
I am going to get a trench coat and walk across that bridge in Prague while I visit my wife, who will be taking five days off from her duties at the University of Qatar in the Middle East, where she is a Fulbright Scholar. I can tell you this for a fact, that wherever Mickie is, that is home. Whether we are actually in our home in Georgia, at her temporary home in the Middle East or spending five days together in Prague, it is home to me because home is wherever you find your heart and the people whom you love.
Paul discovered the true secret to contentment and being at home wherever he was at any particular moment in his life. We read in Philippians 4:12-13:
“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 everything through him who gives me strength.”
We can find peace, joy and contentment in every situation in our lives no matter if the situation is joyous or devastating because it is through Christ, and Christ alone, that we find our strength. If you are experiencing a particularly difficult time in your life let me encourage you to change your perspective. Instead of focusing upon the problem, praise the God who is greater than all your problems.