Philippians 4:11-13 NASB 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.
Philippians 4:11-13 AMP Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to always be content [I always have sufficiency in Christ, to the point that I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances. [12] I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need. [13] I can do all things in Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose— I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.
What a wonderful thought: always being content regardless of your circumstances. The word “content” that’s used in verse 11 has sort of a complex meaning, for it carries the idea of both personal satisfaction and sufficiency. Of course, the key to these three verses is found in verse 13, where Paul says that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him, but this verse would be better translated, “I can continually and consistently in the present moment do all things IN CHRIST who continually and consistently in the present moment infuses me with His power.” Paul said in verse 12 that he had learned to always be content regardless of whether the circumstances in his life were pleasant, difficult, prosperous, or challenging. Paul had learned to be content regardless of the circumstances in his life because his mind had been renewed to his true identity as someone in union with Christ and, therefore, in union with the supernatural ability of Jesus to face anything in life. These three verses are a glorious description of a life that is abiding in Christ. Imagine life where no matter what’s happening, you always experience contentment because you know that you are in Christ, and therefore He is ordering your steps (nothing in life is just about happenstance) and that He is all-sufficient for every step that He orders. In light of the fact that you are in Christ, and therefore in union with His very life, can He have sufficiency to handle the situation and you not have it? Colossians 3:11 says, “Christ is all, and is in all.”
If you are one with Him, can He have wisdom and you not have it? Can He have the physical and emotional strength to face the next moment, and you not have it? Can He have the peace and wisdom to handle the financial crisis, and you not have that peace and wisdom? Can He have love, joy, purity, etc., and you not have it? If you are in Christ, then His all-sufficiency is your sufficiency because the new self that you are finds its true identity in all that He is. The opposite of contentment is complaining, and at its root, complaining is saying, “I don’t want God’s will, or I don’t believe I can handle this situation.” Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, but that abundant life can only be found in abandonment to His will, the story that He wants to tell through your life circumstantially, moment by moment, and confidence in is all sufficiency to do His will. When you get it down in your heart that He is doing it just right and that He is more than sufficient for whatever circumstance He has placed you in, then it really doesn’t matter what’s going on because you’re always content in Him.