I Choose Peace - In Difficult Circumstances, Part 1

Is it possible to have peace? I mean to be content in the midst of adverse, challenging, and uncertain circumstances.

The Bible would say, yes. The question is how, and that's today on Living on the Edge. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Druey, and I'm sure many of you have realized over the past year that peace is not an easy idea to hold onto. As our society spins out of control, where can we find certainty and safety? Well, in this program, Chip continues his series, I Choose Peace, with the first two of four principles that will help you hang on to peace, even as our world falls apart. Before we jump into this message, I want to remind you that if you missed any part of this series, you can catch up anytime at livingontheedge.org or through the Chip Ingram app.

Here's Chip with his message, In Difficult Circumstances, from Philippians Chapter 4. Webster, if you're wondering exactly what contentment is, says that contentment is happy enough with what one has or is, not desiring something more or different. In other words, you're satisfied. When you're content, it's not just you're happy with what you have, you're happy with who you are. You wouldn't want to be three inches taller or seven inches shorter or, you know, you're content. You would say, it's enough, it's good. And I want you to think back to what is it you believe would really help you be content, and the clearer that you can get on that, I believe the more powerfully God is going to speak to you. Okay, because in human terms, the problem with contentment is that the horizon is always moving. I mean, there's a time in your life when you say, you know, if I ever get a car, any kind of car, a beat-up junker, just a car, then I'd be happy. You know, then you get that car and you want one that really runs, and then you get that car, and then pretty soon you want one that runs and looks nice and you get that car, and pretty soon now you want two cars, and you know, it goes on and on and on and on. The horizon always keeps moving. If I ever get married, God, I'd never ask for another thing. Three years later, oh God, if you could ever work out this marriage, I'd never ask for another thing. God, if you'd give me, give us a child, oh Lord, how did you bring that last one, you know.

The horizon keeps moving. And so, being human nature what it is, philosophically, people over the ages have tried to solve this contentment issue in two drastic ways. One group has taken that contentment will be found by conquering, achieving, acquiring until satisfied.

That was sort of the Roman Empire. You know what, we got part of the world, we're going to get the whole world. You know, we're going to own, acquire, have, get, bigger, better, more, and then as soon as we get that, there's got to be just a little bit more, and when we do, then we'll be content.

But we kind of know from our personal experience that that doesn't work. Sure, it's nice to have nice stuff, it's nice to have a better job than the one you used to have, et cetera, et cetera, but, you know, that horizon keeps moving and, you know, it's kind of a funny thing. You think to yourself, you know, I really, I liked this watch until we went to the mall yesterday. I mean, this was a great watch, you know, hypothetically, and then you walk by and see Bulova, Rolex, you know, I guess it's an okay watch. And so no matter, but if I turn this one in and got another one, I could go to the mall next week, couldn't I?

And have the exact same problem. And so in philosophic thought, one group of people thought, that's not the way to go. It's not about getting, getting, acquiring, and having, because there's no end to it. A group called the Stoics turned it around and said, we're going to desire less and less until it doesn't matter. In fact, Eastern and Buddhist thought goes along these lines, I want less, less, less, less. And so the Stoic philosophers got where they could emotionally attach. They would take a vase or a cup that they liked, and as a part of the process of their thinking, they would throw it to the ground, watch it break, and say, it doesn't matter.

And then they would literally allow, this is historical, they would get a pet that they were fond of and kill the pet. And then say, it doesn't matter. The only way to have peace is get less and less and less. And then when one of their children died or something happened, it would be, it can't impact me. I like the quote of T.R. Glover said, the Stoics made the heart a desert and called it peace.

And I don't know about you, but we've got a little problem here. If getting more and more and more and more can never bring contentment, and if desiring less, less, less, then the question is, how can we be satisfied today? And the answer to that is from the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and he's going to tell you, and he's going to tell me how you actually can be content. Not when this, you can be content today. You can actually live your life in a way empowered by the Spirit of God so that when things are great or when things are terrible, you can say and mean it, it is well with my soul. And you're gonna learn it today.

In fact, when I got thinking about this, we should have charged people to come in. I mean, it can have such a profound impact in terms of the whole world is looking for happiness, and today, God is going to teach us, his children, how you can experience a, it is well with your soul 24-7, 365, 24 hours a day. Now, it's a journey, it doesn't happen all at once.

Well, let's find out where that answer's found. Philippians chapter 4, 10 to 13. If you have your Bible, you can track along with me, but I put the text in so we could be in the same translation. Here's the occasion. The occasion is the Apostle Paul is in prison. So you gotta remember he's writing a letter, and this church, the Philippian church, they've got this great relationship, and it's the theme of this whole letter that he writes to them is about joy, and it started in such a way where they've, there's not a lot of problems in this church.

One made a little relational problem toward the end, but he's built this bond with him. And things have gone a little bit south for him. He's ended up in jail. He's in a Roman prison, and I'm not exactly sure what all that, but I know that every four to six hours, a new guard is chained to him.

The food is not real good. He's got scars on his body. He's had a very difficult life. This is toward the latter parts of his life.

So you've got bad food, it's cold, it's damp, there's rats, there's probably the smell of excrements. I mean, his situation is really bad, but Epaphroditus, one of the church guys, found out finally, because they lost track of one another where he was, and they came and brought him a gift. And what you're gonna read is his literal thank you note. He's just writing a thank you note. So listen to what he says in verse 10. He says, 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. And circle a few words that word renewed. This word renewed is used for when a flower or a plant that has been dormant is now beginning to bloom. And the apostle Paul is saying, you know, we had those great times together, and God birthed the church, and we were that band of brothers and sisters, and then I ended up in prison, we lost track of one another, I knew you cared about me, but now you have opportunity, and it's like the relationship has bloomed again. And notice the phrase, I greatly rejoice.

I'm happy. I'm sitting in this prison, but I greatly rejoice in the Lord. And then notice he's gonna clarify his motives, because I don't know about you, you know, sometimes if you've helped someone, this is the only church we know of early on that financially supported Paul, it was the first one. And so he wants them to know, now this is not like one of those thank you letters, thank you for this great contribution to the ministry, now let me tell you how much money I need next. He says, my motives are just from the heart. Picking it up in verse 11, he says, I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. He goes on to say, I know what it is to be in need, 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. Now would you go through and take the word learned and put a box around it and then skip down where he says, I've learned again. It's very interesting, this isn't a tense of the verb, it's not present tense, I am learning to be content. This is a tense of the verb that's punctilier, seeing something. He basically is saying, in this journey with God, I've had mountain peaks and low times.

I remember when I had a lot, I was a young man. Some say he may have been the most brilliant mind of his time. He got his MBA and his doctorate at Harvard Business School of his day and graduated number one. He was a Pharisee, he came from an upper crust family, he was a Roman citizen, he was from this place called Tarsus.

Barnabas, early friend, was very, very wealthy. He knows what it's like to drive the nicest cars, have the nicest clothes, be esteemed by people, live in a nice house, go to any restaurant whenever and have a fat 401k. He knows what that life's like. But he says, I've had plenty, but he also says, the ups, I've also had downs, night and a day in the deep. I've been beat within an inch of my life, the 39 lashes, three times. I've been left for dead once.

In this current situation, one of his closest friends named Demas betrayed him and left. He's by himself, his body is marked with the scars, he's been times where he has had no food for days at a time. He's lived as high as you can live in his day and he's lived as low as you can live and in the ups and downs, there's a thread that connects all of them and it's a supernatural relationship with Jesus and he says, he looks at that whole thing and he says like he's taking a photograph, snap, I have learned. Now this is what he's saying, like I learned to ride a bike, okay? I'm not learning to ride a bike, if you put a bike up here, trust me, I can get on it and I can ride it. I can get better, but I have learned to ride a bike. You know what he's saying here? I've learned to be content.

Means it's possible. I've learned to have a ton of money in the bank, go to the finest restaurants, have everything going my way and I've learned when my physical body didn't work, when my closest friends betrayed me, when people walked out on my life and when it seemed like things could not have been any worse, I have learned already out of my relationship with Christ to say and to actually experience it's well with my soul. No fake, no artificial and then in verse 13, he tells us how it occurs, he says, I actually can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. So this is by way of an overview of what's happening and by way of conclusion, contentment is not a thing to be achieved, but a secret to be discovered. As we're here today, you can actually discover a secret.

There is a way, he said, I've learned the secret and he says, I've got it. I am content. It's not something to be achieved. There is a pattern of things that you can learn that you could walk out that door or one of those doors out of this and you could start a journey and you could come to the point in this life that regardless of your circumstances, you could be fully satisfied content, not want for anything else and be satisfied and content with who you are, where you are, what you're doing.

And this word means, the word content means self-sufficiency. This is not the removal of, I love what one commentator says, he learned the secret of deep peace based on detachment from his outward circumstances. And then he goes on to say, this is not a fatalism which cuts the nerve of ambition or smooths endeavors. No, it is a detachment from anxious concern about the outward features of this life. This kind of contentment doesn't mean you, well, I'm going to lay back on the couch and this is pressing on, being all you want to be. And in the midst of the ups and downs of life, a veritable peace in your heart, a satisfaction that's supernatural.

And the question I want to ask is how do you get that? I mean, Paul knew it was a moving target. Paul knew from his experience that getting more and more and more wouldn't do it. Paul knew, I mean, the philosophers of his day, there were multiple stoics.

He knew pretending that relationships don't matter and saying less and less isn't it. And the apostle Paul on this morning, on this day in your life and mine is going to say, I'm going to share the secret. I will show you in this text, he's saying to us, how you can be content.

So let's dig in. Four principles and four practices. Okay, this isn't idealistic, this isn't like one of those messages somewhere someday. He's going to walk you through and walk me through four specific practices that there's a principle behind them that if you understand the principle and start to progressively begin to practice it, you can come to a day in your life where you can say, I've learned to be content. Just like you can say, I can ride a bike. Just like you can say, I've mastered this or that. You can learn to be content.

It's pretty exciting. Understands how. Contrary to the lie that I'll be content when my circumstances align with my desires, the first secret of contentment is learning. Our contentment principle number one is not dependent on our circumstances.

See, unconsciously what you've been taught, what I've been taught, what the world teaches us, what each commercial says is, here's your circumstances over here and here's your desires. Someday, someway through lots of things when your circumstances and desires align, then you can be happy. Then you can be satisfied.

I call it the when-then syndrome. Here's the when. When I get married, then I'll be happy. When I have a great job, then I'll be happy. When my marriage is on all cylinders, then I'll be happy. When we have a child, when we have more money, when we have a second house, when we remodel the bathroom, when I make the cheerleading squad, when I finally score this on the SAT, when I get into this college, when, when, when, then, then, then, then. It's a lie.

The people that have the then are not happy. And yet we, like cats chasing their tail, just increase the speed of the when-then mentality. Paul says the answer is to break the power of this lie. And he gives us the practice. Be grateful. Be grateful. Be thankful. Put another way, develop the discipline of thanking God for what you do have instead of focusing on what you don't have. You understand that billions of dollars each year coming across the screen in every magazine ad are designed specifically to make you what?

Discontent. In other words, that set of clothes will make you. So I got to go get that. This food will make you. This drink will make you. This job will make you. This surgery will make you.

This diet will make you. When? Then.

When? Then. Paul says the nature is we focus on what we don't have, don't have, don't have.

He says here's what I've learned. I habitually, relentlessly, obediently thank God moment for moment for what I do have. And this is not like a sort of a nice suggestion, you know, power of positive thinking. Jot down, if you will, 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 16 through 18. Sixteen says rejoice always. Seventeen says pray without ceasing. Eighteen says for giving thanks in all things for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. The giving of thanks in all things and for all things, it's God's will.

Let me give you a picture. By the way, Christian or not, you can be a Christian and be a very ungrateful, crumbling person. And it can be very, very subtle and destroy your contentment. I married a wonderful, wonderful woman named Teresa sitting over there. And we had no premarital counseling. And she loved God and I loved God. And within six months, we were in seminary. And everything about her was, she's east, I'm west, north, I'm south. I mean, we don't, we only have to take one test on all those inventories. Whoever takes the test, then whatever that person is, you just put the exact opposite and that's what you are.

Saves a lot of time. And so, differences attract, I mean, like two magnets, it was like, whoom, oh man, this is awesome. But about nine months into our marriage or year, year and a half as we kept going, those opposites, she was very, very faithful. Now she's rigid.

She has great integrity. Now she's just picky over little things. And so, you know, I had a list after about six or eight months in our marriage. I'm thinking, you know, this is, you know, it's a good marriage but I focused on the 5%. I just kind of unconsciously said, you know, there's five or six things that she can improve and when she improves, we'll have a great marriage. So I started the self-help program of how to make Teresa who she needs to be. You know, if she was a little more that way, a little more that way, a lot less that way, if she would do this, stop doing this, this is gonna be great.

So, you know, it's a project, gotta do what you're supposed to do. So I decided to focus on those areas you need to develop. Now a lot of times I never said anything but this is what's going through my mind and it comes out my habits. And pretty soon we're, you know what, we really love each other, we really love God and I'm in seminary preparing for ministry and we're making each other nuts. And I gotta tell you something, not only did God provide some wise pastoral counseling and we went to some counseling and worked through some of our baggage and we learned all that but I'll tell you at the heart of it, and I still do it, you know, almost, I don't know, 27, 30 years later I still do it. I begin the process of being grateful and thanking God for what I did have in my wife and stop focusing on the five percent that I didn't have. It'll change your world. I mean to this day I'll still go out to a coffee shop and sometimes just when I'm struggling emotionally and everyone does and you have these little kind of distances in your marriage, I will often get out a napkin and start writing down, she is faithful, she's an awesome mom and she prays for me, she is beautiful.

And I'll just write down all the things and I'll thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God. You know what happens? My emotions change. And when my emotions change I treat her differently. And when I treat her differently that five percent keeps shrinking.

What's your situation? What relationship, what issue in your life are you constantly focusing on what you don't have instead of thanking God for what you do have? The apostle Paul says if you want to experience contentment, it is well with your soul, practice number one, be grateful. Second, secret to contentment dispels the myth that contentment is a future event. Somehow in America and multiple places around the world we think there's some future event, not just a win then, but it's sort of like there's a lotto out there. The lotto might be a person, the lotto might be the actual lotto and I'm going to get 35 billion zillion dollars, but there's this event and when it occurs, notice what the apostle Paul says, principle number two, contentment is an attitude we learn, not a thing that we achieve.

You say well where do you get that? Well look at verse 11, I have learned. Look at verse 12, I have learned.

You might circle those if you haven't. Contentment is not out there. External, contentment is God doing something in you, through you, so it's in here. Epicurus said to him who little is not enough, nothing is enough. The practice, be teachable. Be teachable.

If you really want to learn to ride the bicycle of contentment as a way of life, you learn to practice gratefulness, thankfulness and then be teachable. Ask God what he wants you to learn in your present circumstance instead of telling God what you want him to change. Wouldn't it be interesting if we put a little recorder under your pillow or some place where you pray if you pray out loud or we could record your mind and we could listen to your prayers, my prayers. I wonder how many of our prayers are totally about God I want you to change my boss, I want you to change my wife, I want you to, actually I like to change something because I don't have a wife. I want you to change this, I want you to change that, I want you to change this about me, I want you to change this about that. God here's your agenda, I know you're the great self-help genie and your whole goal of being the creator of all that there is is to make me happy, fulfilled, warm and fuzzy every day in every way. So here's my list, take care of it will you.

See unconsciously that's the lie we've believed. People that are content first say thank you Lord, not pie in the sky, thank you God, it's hard, it's difficult, I don't like it but I choose to say thank you and then they're teachable. God because of these circumstances what do you want to teach me? Instead of asking you to do something out there what is it you want me to learn?

Chip will join us here in studio with his application in just a minute. You've been listening to the first part of his message in difficult circumstances from his series I Choose Peace. Do you feel burdened by life's demands? Are you anxious about the financial pressures on you?

Is there a difficult relationship wearing you down? If you answered yes to any of these questions you need a little more peace in your life. In this series Chip talks about the peace of God that in the midst of the chaos restores, calms and encourages us.

Don't miss a single part of this series. It'll change your relationship with God. For additional info on I Choose Peace or to order any of the series resources visit livingontheedge.org.

App listeners tap special offers. Well Chip we've talked for the last several programs about experiencing God's peace and I know that you've written a book on this subject that identifies the major places we struggle to access that peace. Could you review those for us and share how God wants to care for us when we're worried and anxious?

Absolutely Dave. I think there's five specific areas where we tend to lose our peace. In fact I call them peace robbers. Conflict in relationships, they steal your peace. Anxiety, projections into the future of what might happen and if this happens and what about that, that steals your peace. Circumstances when they change dramatically or they don't change and you think it's always going to be this way, this marriage will never work out, I'll never get a good job.

Financial pressures that people have now or a retirement that's gone or money that's gone or am I going to have enough money to take care of my basic needs. That can rob our peace and then finally I think there's times where the Lord begins to nudge us. Often when the world is shaken, God speaks and he asks us to take a big step of faith and it might be relocating, it might be starting a new business, it might be hey get married now, it might be you need to put a pause on something but it's a big decision and I think we can get paralyzed around those and we lose our peace. In this series and in the book that I write, we systematically walk through each of those areas and we say this is what the Word of God says and here are practical, specific ways that you can access the peace, the presence, the power, the purpose of God in the midst of those things.

It doesn't mean everything's going to be okay and that you get what you want tomorrow but it means that that promise that I will be with you always and my power, my presence and my direction will be available for you 24-7. That's what the book's about, that's what the series is about and my prayer is that our listeners would pass this on to relatives and friends and co-workers. This is the kind of book that an unbeliever would pick up and say hey man you know I know it's got some Jesus stuff in here but this is really helpful.

This will really give me what I need. So that's our hearts desire Dave and that's our prayer. Well to order your copy of Chip's brand new book, I Choose Peace, visit livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003. If you're ready for more peace in your life, get your hands on this resource or order a few to study together with some friends. You'll want to revisit the truth in this book again and again, especially when anxiety and worry threaten to overwhelm you. To order your copy of I Choose Peace, just go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003.

App listeners tap special offers. As we wrap up today's teaching, I want to begin practicing with you the process where you'll learn to be content in every circumstance. There's two practices that I've learned over the years. In fact, I learned them from the Apostle Paul and number one is to be grateful. I mean, this isn't something that, you know, I learned once and I put in a message. This morning the Lord awakened me very early.

I have a lot on my plate, you know, all that jumbling in your mind, demands, right? And I opened my journal and I just started thinking, okay, God, I want to thank you for, and then I listed a moment my wife and I had yesterday. Then I listed a little time with my son and my granddaughter and then some staff members who were just so gracious and then, but it was just thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And I put a little star by each one of them. And what I want you to know is the jumbled emotions began to settle. As I'm grateful for what I have, as I'm grateful and look at that through the lens of gratitude, it's amazing what God does in your heart.

The second step that we learned is be teachable. In other words, when you're going through difficulty and when you don't understand things or when you're frustrated or even when you're angry at someone, here's the question, Lord, what do you want to teach me in this? Show me how you want me to respond instead of, God, I want you to do this. God, I want you to do that.

God, I want you to do this. And if you don't do that, if you can surrender that demanding spirit and ask him for help. The third tip I want to give you today is it's a practice that's been so helpful is get with God first. Get in his word, be teachable and be thankful. As we learn to choose peace, we do some positive things, gratefulness, teachability.

Then we eliminate some negative things, too much TV, Netflix and social media. See if the Spirit of God doesn't use that starting today to bring you peace. Just before we close, I want to say thanks to those of you who are giving regularly to the ministry of Living on the Edge. You're making a huge difference helping other Christians live like Christians. Now, if you're enjoying the benefits of Living on the Edge but aren't yet on the team, would you do that today? You can set up a recurring donation by calling us at 888-333-6003, tapping the donate button or visiting us online at livingontheedge.org. And thanks for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. Well, for all of us here, this is Dave Drouy saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.