“A Russian woman lived with her husband and two children in a tiny little house. Her husband’s parents lost their home and she had to take them in. it was just too crowded… it was unbearable!.. In desperation, she went to the village wise man, who she knew had solved many, many problems. "What should I do?" she begged.

"Do you have a COW?" asked the wise man. "Yes," she replied. Then bring her into your house as well... and come back and see me in a week," ….. A week later she was back. "This is a total impossibility" she said. Please help me!

"Do you have any CHICKENS?" asked wise man. "Yes," she replied. "What about them?" ‘Bring them into the house too, and come back and see me in a week." "He must be out of his mind," she thought. However… awed by his reputation….. she did as he asked.

A week later she returned. "I'm living in absolute chaos," she said. "Our home is a disaster." "All right," said the wise man, "take out the chickens." The next week she came back and reported that without the chickens the situation had improved, considerably, but it was still a miserable situation. "All right," said the wise man, "now take out the cow.

The next week she returned full of praise. Thank you so much… You have wisely solved my problem… Without the chickens and cow we have plenty of room… the house is clean … and my family is living in comfort and peace again..

Every one of us, here…who's older than ten… has had the experience of feeling like everything in your life was chaotic… things couldn't get any worse… Then something new happens… and we get so mentally involved in the new event that we forget how bad we thought the old events were.

The good news is: Many of those impossible, negative events in our lives are part of our past…not part of our present. God brought us through them! As you look back over a longer and longer period of time… you tend to see more and more clearly that God's fingerprints are all over your life… and He literally never, never, never fails to guide us through the most difficult of circumstances. Amen?

But, let talk about what our attitude is supposed to be like in the middle of life's difficult times…

Philippians 4:10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me.

Let me paint the picture… Paul is in Rome.. the Philippians are in Philippi ( ) They have sent him a care package through a guy named Epaphroditus..

Jump down to verse 18 - 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ( We quote this all the time as a promise to every Christian… It's not!.... Paul offered it as a promise from God to the Philippian Christians who had given sacrificially. It's part of that universal principle I often talk about… When you give away… God, then, makes sure you have enough… and even goes as far as to say that you will have an abundance)

Philippians 4:10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 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. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (NLT)

So let's make sure we understand… The poor, struggling Philippian church takes up a collection and sends it to "television preacher Paul" who has a vacation villa in Rome where he hangs out with the movers and shakers of the Roman Empire??? Right?

Wrong….Paul's in prison for preaching the Gospel. He has no guarantee of ever getting out or even getting a fair trial…or even getting a trial at all. Eventually he will, in fact, be executed, right in this very town…

Paul had experienced life trials that make most of our worst days seem easy. Beatings, stonings, jailings, shipwrecks, hunger, desertion, misunderstanding – Now he is sitting in a stone cell facing the possible early end to his life… If anybody has the right to be morbid about life…to whine about how mistreated he has been.. it's Paul … but instead of complaining he is writing this kind of stuff:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 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. 13 I can do everything through Him (Jesus) who gives me strength. (NLT)

Did you hear what he said:

I have learned the secret!

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation!

It's possible to have everything life has to offer and be discontent… It's also possible to have very little of what life has to offer…in fact, to, seemingly, get the short end of the stick over and over and still be completely contented.

Multi-millionaire William Randolph Hearst invested a fortune in collecting art treasures from all over the world. One day Hearst read a description of a valuable art piece that he wanted and wanted badly…so he sent his art agent across the world to do whatever it took to find it and buy it.. After months of searching, the agent reported back that he had finally found the treasure. He found the priceless masterpiece….. t in William Randolph Hearst's own art warehouse. The "had to have it all" millionaire had been searching all over the world for a treasure he already owned. Had he, simply, read the catalog of his own art treasures, he would have saved himself a lot of time and money. (From Today in the Word, Dec 13, 1995, pg.20)

That attitude of discontent is bred into every one of us in the industrialized world. As important as capitalism is to our success as a nation… it's continued growth depends on an army of advertisers working twenty four hours a day to convince you that you're not really happy with what you now have as you might think you are.

The path to true contentment is always just one step beyond where we find ourselves living!

US News and World Report conducted a survey on "The American Dream". The people they surveyed, who were making less than 25,000.00/year believed, on average, that they could achieve the American Dream if they made 54,000.00/year. The same survey showed that those who made 100,000.00/ year believed they would achieve the American dream if they made, on average, 192,000.00.

In other words, the American Dream, for most of us, lies just twice the distance beyond what we have now achieved!

I want to be careful, because I certainly believe in a "free market" and I believe people should have goals and strive toward them…

….But how many of us are on that road…living in a state of perpetual discontent?

Paul said, Hey guys…I found the secret! Yo.. You out there

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.

Americans are measurably less content than we were in the 70"s. Since Jimmy Carter was President we, actually, now measure something called the "misery index". Imagine that….Let's figure up, average, and publish just how miserable we all are.

According to "Poverty, American Style" using figure from the US census taken in 2000,

In 1973, the average new house had 1660 square feet. Today the average new home being built is 2,434 square feet. ( Just for reference: the average first century home in Paul's day had only 300 - 600 sq. ft.)

_______________

According to the 2000 census, 46% of all "poor" households own their own homes. 76% of poor households have air conditioning, while 30 years ago, only 36% of the entire US population had air conditioning.

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Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30% own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television. Over half own two or more color televisions. Sixty-two percent have cable or satellite TV.

______________

According to the 2000 census, most poor children today are in fact super- nourished, on average growing up to be one inch taller and ten pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II. (Poverty, American Style, by FairOpinion, Oct. 13,2003).

These are those described by our government as being “poor” and yet the poor in this country are better off than the majority of people in the rest of the world.

Gives weight to the poet who said:

As a rule, man’s a fool. When it’s hot, he wants it cool.
And when it’s cool, he wants it hot… Always wanting what is not.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation!

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Wall Street Journal reports that a Japanese company, Toto, is introducing a high-tech $5,000 deluxe Neorest toilet to the U.S. market. Features include seats that can be set to rise automatically via sensors on the side, so users don’t have to touch the toilet. The toilet also has a wireless remote to raise or lower the seat. It has a deodorizer, a warm-air dryer, water temperature adjustments, and seat comfort level options.

Question # 1 How did Paul get to the secret of being content? _____________

I have LEARNED the secret of being content!

How do we get our head around the secret of being content? We learn it! That means we don't know it…then we get a better and better grasp on the truth… until it becomes "knowledge" to us.

Let's just say, then, that all of us here set out to learn this eternal truth and finally we too have learned the secret… What did we learn?... What is the secret? Do you know the answer? ____________________________

The Secret is:

13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. (NIV)

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (NKJV)

13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (MSG) (I'm not a huge fan of the Message paraphrase but that's good!)

Turns out it not who you are… but whose you are… that makes the difference!

Not the people you know…not the positions you hold… not the possessions you own

13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

This whole idea that contentment is just over the next hill is a mirage. As soon as I reach that level of success… as soon as I marry that princess or prince… as soon as I get that next all important position or possession.

Reaching highly set goals is admirable… But from a "contentment" standpoint it tends to be like seeing a lake off in the distance when lost in the desert. When you get up close… it keeps moving just out of reach.

Discontentment often comes from a feeling that we are being deprived… We deserved something and we didn't get it.

Learned contentment is not a lesser, shallower way of thinking. It is profoundly deep! True contentment also comes from the sense that we did not get what we deserved… and being thankful for it!

Discontent vs. Content:

1) Discontent feels like he deserved a higher position at work and didn't get it

2) Content realizes that the strength and intellect to work is a gift from God!

1) Discontent feels like she deserves greater wealth and possessions

2) Content realizes that any wealth is God's gift and designed to be shared

1 Timothy 6:6 … true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.

1) Discontent feels like he deserves perfect health

2) Content realizes that he has an eternal resurrected body under construction

1) Discontent feels like power over others is the greatest indicator of true success

2) Content realizes that serving others is the path to eternal success.

1) Discontent feels like getting all she deserves from this life is her life mission

2) Content realizes that developing a relationship with Jesus is life's highest calling

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

That phrase is actually one word in the original Greek and Paul wrote it twice. That means that it is something that Paul wanted his readers to really notice. He is saying,

“I can do all things, I really can!”

Don't anybody make the mistake of believing that my contentment comes from believing I am in charge…My real contentment comes from realizing that I am not! God is everything to me……so nothing is beyond the range of possibility for my life…

I can do…

I can do….. all things

I can do all things….. through Christ