Be content! (Oh here we go again)

I know. I write a lot about being content. But I have good reason to. I am by nature very competitive. I can, for a time, quell my ambition. I can also, for a time, ignore the urges to be different - to make a difference. But my very nature, the same nature that God built in me, rises up and explodes with a desire for something different, something challenging, something more. So, as a reminder to myself, I often study and write about contentment. Paul said in Philippians that he, "learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Paul continued:

"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 all this through him who gives me strength." (Phil 4:11-13, NIV)

But what is the secret that Paul so gleefully writes about? Is it that God gives him the strength to be content? If so, why doesn't God give me the strength to be content?

Friends, the secret is that God does give us all the strength to be content, whether He also built within us a competitive or ambitious nature. God fashioned every atom of every molecule of every cell of every organ of every thing in this universe. He knows exactly how ambitious or competitive or restless He made you and it's that exact nature He asks us to control - to be content within.

He gives us the strength to do it. We just have to let His strength overcome our nature.

After all, isn't that the secret to everything?

Let God be in control. Be content.

And for those who argue that it's easier said than done. Preach on, brother. I'm writing this to remind myself of exactly that!