Philippians 4

Philippians 4:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

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.

You know how you just keep getting hit with the same thing over and over? Well, this Sunday makes the 3rd time in a week I have been shown this scripture. The first time I read it in my bible study and shared it with my friends. The second was in a book about military life (I would recommend reading it, she does an exquisite job of not being an over the top whiner). The last time was today in our sermon. God is really trying to show me the true meaning of being content and how it differs from being stoic. The pastor pointed out that during the time this was written, the Romans were extremely good at being stoic. The difference between the two is a matter of acceptance or denial. People who are stoic will bravely deny their true emotions and keep trucking along, I tend to fall into this category. However, being truly content is being aware of your emotions and realizing the God is giving you the ability to be content, despite how you should feel.

Well, I thought this was really interesting and hope to delve into this further.