In every situation

"So, how are you praying about all the uncertainty you feel right now?" Melissa asked me while I was in Philly last weekend.
I guess just asking that God will make it clear what I'm supposed to do next...
"Have you thought about praying for contentment in where you are now?"
No.... I've just been thinking about the things I want to change in my life....

I've been thinking about Melissa's challenge a lot since I've been back in New York. What would it look like for me to accept things as they are and not think about all the things I wish were different? And then the verse kept coming to mind: "I have learned in every situation to be content... I have learned the secret..."

The secret?? I want to know, too! I want to be content-- is it really something I can learn?

So I got out my Bible and looked it up. I'm not sure why I never before realized that this whole passage went together, but here it is:

"...for 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. I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:11-13).

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. That's the secret-- the secret is that there isn't some magic formula for me to figure out and start doing, because I can never be content by my own power. I can't be content by myself. Yet that's what I've been striving after-- If I could just change X Y and Z, then I would be content.

So if I can't learn contentment on my own, how do I get there? That's the secret Paul shares; Christ is the one that will get me to that point. I can do all things-- I can be content-- through Christ, who gives me strength for that task. I think God calls us to things that sound like they should be really easy, but are actually really hard when you try to do it by yourself. Kind of humbling, isn't it, to realize that we can't even do something like "be happy" by ourselves? Think about the command that comes earlier in the chapter: Rejoice always. That sounds good to me; I would like to be happy and joyful and rejoicing all the time. But.... Do I still have to rejoice when things are hard and I don't feel like rejoicing?
Always.
But how? I can't make myself be happy.
You can do all things through him who strengthens you.

It's true, though-- I can't make myself be happy. I can't make myself be content. Not in my own strength, anyway. But that's the secret that Paul knew deeply and wants us to know in the same way: I-- you-- can do all things through him who gives me/you strength. Even something as wild and crazy as being content when things are going differently than I would have chosen for myself.