Whatever Happens, I’m Good

The fountain of youth, the lost city of gold, the genie's lamp. Throughout history, people have searched for something to transform their everyday lives into something spectacular. Not many of us today are traveling the world looking for a literal fountain of youth, but we're still all searching. We sense, deep down, that there's got to be more to life than what we're living. We feel, in our bones, that even though it's elusive, the good life is out there. Centuries ago, an old man with scars on his back, sitting alone in a prison cell, claimed to have finally found it, the secret to the good life. And lucky for us, he wrote it down in a letter to his friends and to us. That letter is the Book of Philippians. Well, good morning, Summit family. If you're new with us, we've been making our way through the Book of Philippians, which I just have to say is one of my favorite books in all of Scripture. And today, we're going to look at my favorite passage and one of my favorite books in all of Scripture. So if you have your Bibles, meet me in Philippians chapter 4. We're going to look at verses 10 through 13. The guy who wrote this, his name is Paul, and Paul says these words. I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I'm speaking of being in need, 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 Christ who strengthens me. Let's pray, and off we go. God, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing in and through our church, Lord God.

The report of how many of all these students last week coming to you, to faith in you, professing their heartfelt desire to be a disciple of you. To other students, Lord God, who said, we want to engage in missions in some capacity. We're putting our yes on the table. God, you are on the move. Now Father, would you speak to us about this much needed universal struggle that all of us have about contentment? Do it in a way, Lord God, that is free of any human striving, any legalism. Kindness to the only one who can satisfy us. That's Jesus. Now, Father, would you give me grace, both be in what I say and in how I say what I say. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen and amen. Recently, I read a book by Pastor Kyle Eidelman called Don't Give Up. In this book, he tells a true story of a young lady. I believe she's from his church who went on a short-term missions trip. She hopped on a plane, went overseas, and she was assigned to work specifically in a leper's colony. I don't know how much you know about leprosy. It is a devastating disease, and a lot of that is because of the social stigma and implications that come with that. People who are stricken with leprosy are oftentimes socially ostracized. So here's this young lady. She's immersed in this leper's colony, and her assignment specifically is to lead this community of lepers in worship. So she does that. It's her last day there. God's moved in amazing ways. She's a bit sad. She's on stage about to lead in worship, where all of a sudden, spontaneously, she just decides to take a request.

She says to this crowd of lepers, hey, any song you want to sing? Immediately in the back, one of the lepers thrusts her hand in the air. She has no ears. She has no lips. The hand she thrusts in the air, no fingers. She says, yeah, there's a song I'd love to sing. Can we sing Count Your Blessings? Wow. I got to tell you, I read that, and I stopped. You want to... Talk about, man, just feeling profoundly like challenged, convicted, even shamed. I mean, the stuff I complain about, and you have a leper, no finger saying, can we sing count, your blessings. There was something in me. I read that story and there was something in me that says, I want that. What is that? It's contentment. Let me give you a general definition of contentment. We'll come back and I'll give you a more theologically robust definition. But broadly speaking, here's the thumbnail definition. Broadly speaking, contentment is permanent satisfaction in all of life's circumstances. Contentment, it is permanent satisfaction in all of life's circumstances. And here's what I want you to know. All of us, not all of you, but I'm with you.

I'm a fellow traveler with you, miss. This is a guilt-free space. All of us struggle profoundly and daily with contentment. It's a universal struggle. The struggle is real. One of the reasons why we all struggle with contentment is because all of us have bought into the lie. It's what I call the if only lie. If only I had that, I'd be good. If only I had that job. If only I had that house. If only I lived in that neighborhood. If only I was able to get that promotion. If only I was able to get married. If only I was able to get single. If only I could have my own kids. If only. If only I could have sex on my terms. If only. And if only proves itself over and over and over again to be a lie, because what you realize is you're never good. Life plays a cruel joke on us. We say if only, and many of us know the frustration of going if only I could, and then you get it and you realize I'm not good. The car didn't do it for me. The outfit didn't do it for me. It's just, I'm checking boxes. In fact, some of you are here and I'm so glad you're here.

Some of you are here and you wouldn't call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ and you're here, and really you're here because if only has proven itself to be a liar. You're going, man, this is crazy. I'm checking all these boxes. I've got all these degrees. I'm working at this wonderful company. I'm working at this wonderful place and money's flowing in and yet there's this emptiness. If only, biggest lie. In December of 2025, this past December, a study was released on consumer debt. It's quite disturbing. This study, December 2025, reveals that the average American, not the average American household, the average American is at least $6,000 in credit card debt. Now, we understand there's multiple reasons for credit card debt. At the front of the line is the if only lie. I'm just gonna purchase and that'll satisfy and that'll fulfill and it just doesn't. One lady in this study, 31-year-old, over $25,000 in credit card debt, look at what she said. She said, I thought spending might prove my worth, might buy me the life I wanted. So much of what I spent was to prove that I was someone other than me,

but I'm me now and that's just fine. I painted a picture of the girl I wanted to be, but the paint started to run and all that was left was a mess. Even hookup culture. We live in a society that says, you can have sex on your own terms. Sociologists say, we're in the age of hookup culture and man, this whole idea that I can just hook up with somebody and have sex on my terms and that'll bring me a sense of fulfillment. Well, they just released this study. The study on hookup culture, they interviewed college students who within the last 30 days had engaged in casual sex, hookup culture. And what the study revealed, extensive study, is actually those college students who engaged in casual sex, sex on their terms, they had higher levels of depression, higher levels of anxiety, lower levels of happiness, contentment, fulfillment, sense of self-worth and self-esteem. The if-only alignment is over and over again just proving itself if only is a huge lie. And listen, I'm not pointing my finger at you. I've bought into this lie. My wife and I, when we first got married, we lived in a very tiny house, tiny house, before tiny houses were a thing.

We lived in a very tiny house in Sierra Madre, California. This is right near Pasadena. And man, I kid you not, our bedroom was so small. We had to be careful because if you just haphazardly rolled out of bed, you'd run right smack dab into a wall. It was really small. And I just remember thinking, man, if only I could just get a bigger place. And then I get a bigger place if only I could own my own place. And then I get my own place if only, we need a little bit more space. And then I get a little bit, if only, I gotta be honest with you. I played the if only game as a church planter. I don't remember planting a church in Memphis just going, man, if only, if only we could just get to a point where I no longer have to raise support outside of our own church that we're able to live off of the generosity of people who come to our church. And then I go, well, if only we can get to multiple services, if only we can get to the right location, if only we can crack the 1,000 person barrier. And I go, check, check, check, check, no, no, no, no, it's never enough. So I want you to settle that. It's never gonna be enough.

You and I will never, ever, forever, ever, it's an outcast reference, find contentment in this life. So now we come to the book of Philippians and the Philippians love Paul. That's why they're freaking out a little bit when they hear that Paul is in jail, probably in Rome. So what they do is they actually raise a collection. They're concerned about him. They raise some funds. They get a guy by the name of Epaphroditus. They give the financial contribution to Epaphroditus to give to Paul. Epaphroditus makes his way to where Paul is in prison, gives it to Paul. Paul now writes them an update on how he's doing. And we now get to our passage. And specifically, he's going to talk to them about the gift. And he's gonna say to them, he says, look, I rejoice in the Lord greatly. Now at length, you revived your concern for me. Thank you, you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. He says, I want you to know, not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I've learned, and in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, know how to abound in any and every circumstance.

I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. Watch it now. He's not writing this from the Ritz-Carlton. He's not writing this from the Four Seasons Hotel. He's not drinking some drink out of a pineapple deal with an umbrella coming out of it, sitting on a beach overlooking some crystal green water. He's writing this from jail. And he's saying, thank you for your gift, but I'm good. He says, I want you to know, I've learned the secret of being content, content, content. He's writing in Greek. The Greek word content literally means sufficiency. Now you and I understand this. Words only have meaning in relation to other words. Speaking about sufficiency, Paul ends by saying, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, which means he hooks his own sufficiency to the ultimate sufficient one, Jesus. So it's not individual sufficiency. It is Christ-empowered sufficiency. He says, I'm good. My contentment is in Christ. So I promised you I'd give you a more robust theological definition of contentment. Here it is. Jeremiah Burroughs was a Christian pastor some many years ago.

He gave us this definition. Look at it with me. Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, quiet, gracious, I love this phrase, frame of spirit, spirit, spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. I want you to see this. Let me give you a more condensed definition. I'm gonna shrink it a little bit. I'm gonna get the King James ease out of it. Here's what he's saying. Christian contentment is a spirit of joyful submission to God in all circumstances. Don't miss it. It is a spirit, not an action. Simplicity is the action. Contentment is the disposition. Simplicity is what I do or don't do. Okay? Contentment is who I am. It's my spirit, it's my character, it's my being, it's how I roll, my whole being, my whole disposition. I'm rested, I'm good. So the takeaway from this message is not get off Amazon. It's not stop buying stuff. That's an expression of, but what Paul is dealing with is our spirits, who we are, our hearts. It's a frame, it's a disposition. And I love it, it's joyful submission to God

in all circumstances. Paul says, I know to be brought low, I know how to abound in any and every circumstance I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. So it's joyful submission, but let me qualify that. It's not passivity. Mind you, the guy writing this, Paul, not passive. Capital L leader. In marketing terms, we would call him a serial entrepreneur. Started church after church after church after church. New York Times bestselling author, 13 books. Here's a guy in jail, still handling business, still leading churches, still running things. He's like the spiritual version of a mafia boss who runs things from prison. That's Paul. He's not passive. So whatever the situation, joyful submission. Why? Because he knows he's got a good, good father who Paul wrote to the Romans that in all things they work together for good to those that love God are called. So when I'm brought low, when I'm abounding, plenty, hunger, everything's working together for good because contentment is fixated on a good, good father. Who's with me in the valley, with me on the mountaintop. Good, good father. Young preachers from time to time

will kind of ask me a general question. And that is, well, Brian, how'd you know you were gonna be a preacher? And I'm like, man, my answer is just so disappointing. It's like the most disappointing answer I'll give you. And that is, man, I just kind of always knew, just kind of always knew. Like my mother likes to tell people that when I was like three years old, what I wanted for Christmas was a microphone. I'm sure there's narcissism attached there. What three-year-old would ask for that? But anyways, so my mother would say that, I'm the oldest of four. She would say of all the kids, I was the only one she ever trusted to go with my dad. My dad's a preacher. And so my dad would go and he'd preach at other churches. I was the only one, mom said, that I would ever trust from the time you're a little boy that dad could take with him and that you would sit still in service. Because most of these places, they didn't have children's church. When I was coming up, there was no children's church. There was no gluten-free options for communion. Kids these days are so soft. No snack times, whatever. Anyway, so I digress. So dad would sit me there.

Talking three years old. And I'd sit there on the front row and I would just be locked in on dad for all 45 minutes. Just locked in. I'm sure I had a lot of stuff going on in me. Hungry, thirsty, maybe had to go to the bathroom. Maybe there's a lot of stuff going on around me, distractions, whatever. But the whole time, man, I'm just locked in on my dad. In fact, when my dad would get finished preaching, people would rush up to my dad, not so much to comment on the sermon, but to like, man, bro, you're the father of the year. How in the world does a three-year-old stay locked in? There was just this thing in me that all I needed was my dad. It didn't matter what was happening in me, happening around me. Man, as long as I got my dad, I'm good. And in some. In some ways, that's Christian contentment. I'm not tied to my circumstances. I'm not fixated on what's happening or not happening. I'm not led by my appetites. I'm led by an insatiable desire for a providential God. We talk about the providence of God, hand of God, glove of time. A God that is at work at all times in my life. I'm locked in on Him. Is that you?

Is that you? Paul's message in our text is that our only hope for contentment is Christ. It's our only hope. He's now gonna give us three applications. Number one, Paul wants us to understand, and I hope this encourages us, that Christian contentment is not natural. It must be learned. Paul says, verse 11, "'Not that I am speaking of being in need,' here it is, "'for I have learned, I have learned, I have learned, "'in whatever situation I am, to be content.'" Now, here's something really deep, you ready? If you learn something, that means there's a point you didn't know it. It's powerful, man, it's powerful. Powerful truth. Paul says, I had to learn contentment, which means contentment wasn't natural for him. Here's what I want you to understand. Contentment is not natural for any of us. It must be learned. The natural state of our hearts, discontented. Augustine, North African theologian. If you've been around church for a while, you've probably heard this. One of the best quotes in church history. Augustine said, our hearts are restless

until they find their rest in you. I can make a strong case that every sin we ever commit comes out of a discontented heart, which refuses to find satisfaction in God. It's Adam and Eve. The reason why they eat of the fruit is because in their mind, God, what you've provided, not good enough. We've got to add to it. We got to replace you. You're not enough. That's every sin. Every sin arises out of a discontented heart. And I'm not finger pointing because that's all of us. And I want you to understand that's a lifelong struggle. Every single day is a decision between contentment or discontentment. Every single day is a struggle between where am I going to look for contentment? Is it this life or is it Christ? Every single day. And we're gonna struggle with this for all of our lives. Aretha Franklin knows that. Queen of Soul, lifelong struggle. I don't know if you saw her funeral. If you didn't, don't feel bad. It was nine hours. Before she died, Aretha Franklin instructed that her body was to be changed into four different outfits.

The first outfit, this is while she's dead now, was to be a ruby red lace dress with a full tool skirt, five inch patent leather, ruby red Christian Louboutin pumps. Why do you need pumps and a casket? I don't know. The second outfit was to be a shimmering sequined powder blue gown and matching shoes. The third outfit was to be a rose gold custom knit suit featuring pink beaded lace and rose gold sequined Louboutin heels. There go those heels again. And the casket, oh her casket, was a 24 karat gold plated Promethean casket where she wore, fourth outfit, a gold sequined dress accompanied by sparkling gold Christian Louboutin pumps. There goes those pumps again. I'm guessing your funeral won't be like that. I'm guessing, but you know what I've learned? Her thing's close, but we've all got a thing. We've all got it, and if we're gonna learn contentment, let me give you four things. If you're gonna learn contentment, you're gonna have to commit to these four things. Number one, you need to be curious about your discontent. You need to ask consistent, hard questions about your discontented heart. Let me use another word. You and I are going to have to learn to interrogate,

I like that, yep, that's the word, to interrogate our discontentment. Why can't I throw stuff away? Why am I always checking my 401k or the stock market? Why am I always trying to save beyond what's reasonable? Why is Amazon living at my house? Why can't I tell myself no when it comes to purses? Why do I always have to have that new car? Why is it that there's nothing my kids will ever do that's good enough? Why is it that at the end of every hard parenting day, I've got to have a glass of wine? Be ruthless with your discontent. You got pockets of it, I got pockets of it, all God's children have pockets of it. Open your eyes, don't take it for granted, see it, cross-examine it, interrogate it, be brutal with it. Why is it that I'm obsessing over my looks or why is it that I'm obsessing over my body? Why is it that I'm freaking out when I look in the mirror and I'm aging? Why is that? Interrogate it, question it, be brutal with it. Secondly, there's curiosity, but there's also humility. All learning has this humility thing is, man, I just, I don't know this and I want to know it and I need to be taught it, this is where I go, okay, this is an issue for me, just let me be humble about it,

I just want to put it out there. Man, I got a real, I got a real spending problem, I got a real greed problem, I got a real food problem, I got a real hoarding problem, I want you to understand, I've sat in small groups just about all my life and I've heard, I've heard all kinds of confessions, man, that are like really awkward. I've never heard someone confess greed. I've just never heard it. I've never heard someone say, hey bro, I'm just not content. I can't stop buying, I can't stop, I can't stop, I can't. So maybe the takeaway is, because we've already pulled the band-aid off, the blood pressure should be coming down, so we should always, all of us got contentment issues, what if we sat in small group this week or whenever our next small group was and just go, hey look, we all got contentment issues, what's your thing? If we can't be that real in a small group, why are we wasting our time with small groups? I'm not trying to do life with someone and just pretending. We got a thing. Third, all learning has a teacher. And our teacher is Jesus, who in Matthew 11, 29 says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, learn from me, learn from me, same Greek word as Paul uses in our text,

for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul. Well, as Christ says, learn from me, you can learn from me. One of the areas we can learn from Christ is contentment. Why? Because Christ had a PhD in contentment. What did his house look like? Didn't have one. Says Luke chapter nine, foxes have holes, birds of the heavens have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. That doesn't mean we shouldn't own a house. Jesus was just so content, he just didn't even need one. He didn't really interact with money. In fact, the only time he really talks about money is to warn us of the potential dangers. He wasn't born in some luxurious birthing suite. He was born in a manger, raised on the wrong side of the tracks, a town called Nazareth, of which it was asked, can anything good come from Nazareth? He didn't go to prestigious schools, yet people marveled at his learning. He wasn't on the gram taking pictures with celebrities. He chose to hang out with sinners and tax collectors. He had mediocre at best looks. Isaiah said he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to himself. He died at 33, single, homeless, destitute, and yet completely contented and satisfied.

I find that the average American is drawn to the exact opposite. Let me find the famous, the most popular. Let me spend my time with them. Jesus says, no, you need to sit with me. Finally, curiosity, humility, you need a teacher. Finally, you need to sit in class with other students who are trying to go in the same direction as you. You've heard this before. You've heard this before. You and I will become the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Are they trying to live a contented life? Or are y'all competing with each other? What would it look like to say, hey, bro, I just want to confess to you, man. I got an issue here, man. I just want to name it. And I need encouragement. I need accountability. I need prayer. Let's make this a two-way street. Let's not keep this a secret. Let's just walk with each other. What would it look like for us to live a completely un-American life? Well, we're not competing with the Joneses. We don't look like Jesus. Secondly, Paul wants us to understand our only hope for contentment is Christ.

Secondly, he wants us to know Christian contentment is not theoretical. It must be lived. Listen, if you want to learn how to run a marathon, just read a book. You got to get out there and do it. So you don't just, if you want to live a contented life, you don't just read Philippians 4, 10 through 13. No, no, you got to get out there. You got to go through some different seasons and different circumstances. It's a muscle that must be developed. And Paul actually says this to us. He says, I rejoice in the Lord greatly. Now at length, you revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me. You had no opportunity, not that I'm speaking in, being in need. I've learned whatever situation I am to be content. The idea of the word need, from that Greek word, original language of our text, need, that we get such words as hysterical. The idea there is it is a exceedingly dire circumstance. Paul says, I've been in exceedingly dire circumstances. Not only that, he says, I know what it's like to be brought low. One word in the Greek, it's in the passive voice, which means to be the receiver of the action. Paul says, I know what it's like

to be just kind of walking down the road of life. And as the commercial says, life comes at you fast. It brings you low. And Paul says, even in seasons of need, even when I've been brought low, I'm good. Oh, Christ, Father, I want to tell you, you want to shock the world. You want to be an amazing witness for Christ. Display Christ honoring contentment when life brings you low. Oh, I've been reading an amazing book. It's a wonderful little beach read called The Deep Down Dark. It's about the 33 miners in 2010 who were stuck in a mine in Chile, some 2,300 feet below land. The object that had them stuck was twice the size of the Empire State Building. The experts had given these miners a 2% chance at living, but oh, they didn't know who was down there. One of the guys who was down. Down there was a Christian named Jose Enrique who was also a part-time pastor. And when it first happens, everyone's freaking out. And Jose says, stop, let us pray to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. They gather together and Jose leads them in prayer. They get down on their knees and they pray. And spontaneously, many of these guys aren't even believers. They're confessing sin.

One guy says, I drink too much. Another guy says, I've got an anger issue. Another guy says, I'm a horrible father. They confess their sins to God. Then Jose, who's a preacher, starts to preach to them. He doesn't have his Bible with him, but he's going, well, what are some adverse circumstances in the Bible where people are? He preaches to them from Jonah, who's stuck in the belly of a whale. And he preaches to them on that. They start singing and rejoicing. After that first meeting, these minors say, can we do this every day? Every day for one hour, 2,300 feet below land, they're gathering together to hear the word preached, to sing, to rejoice. You talk about showing contentment in adverse circumstances. Is that you? But notice the book ends. Paul says, I'm good when life brings me low, but I'm good when life is great. Paul says, I've learned the secret of facing plenty in hunger, abundance in need. It's been said that success can be a greater danger than failure. Will Smith got to this. Yes, that Will Smith, Academy Awards, Will Smith. Recently, Will Smith did an interview. You should see it.

In this interview, Will Smith says, you know, we often talk about the dangers of rock bottom. And Will says, I'm not belittling that, but obviously I've had a lot of success. And I'm here to tell you, there's a corresponding danger to rock bottom. It's what Will Smith calls cliff top. He says, cliff top is when you've accomplished it all, you've gotten a hold of money, and then you get all the way to the top and you peer over and you realize there's nothing there. Fulfillment you thought was going to be there, gone. Oh, Will, I wish you'd tilt your head up a little bit higher. You lift up your eyes into the hills from where does your help come from? Psalm 121, knowing it comes from the Lord. Paul is saying, I've been at rock bottom. I've been at cliff top. And I'm telling you, in both instances, I'm good. Rock bottom doesn't define me. Cliff top doesn't define me. When the bank account says insufficient funds, I'm good. And when it's overflowing, I am good. Is that you? I want you to imagine a boat that's in a marina. It's bobbing up and down on the waves, bobbing up and down. And you go, man, why isn't this thing carried out to sea? Well, you know why? Because it's tied to something stable,

greater than its circumstances. It's tied to a dock. Oh, believer, if you find yourself emotionally carried out to sea, then that means you're not tied to Christ. Finally, Paul wants us to understand our only hope for contentment is Christ. That Christian contentment is not a matter of my will. It's empowered by Christ. Oh, gosh. I have to imagine, here's the Philippians. They're concerned about Paul. They raise this collection. Here, Epaphroditus, take it to Paul. We want to be an encouragement to him. He takes it to Paul. Paul's sitting in jail. He's encouraged by it. Paul then writes a thank you letter. Then one Sunday, the Philippians are in someone's home, little house church. Someone reads the letter. Maybe it's Epaphroditus. Then they get to Philippians chapter four, verse 10, and they're rolling their eyes. They have to be. Because they've heard this before. I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length, you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me,

but you had no opportunity. Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned this. He could have facing plenty and hunger abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Up until verse 13, they've heard this before. Why? Because if you understand anything about Greek philosophy, you understand that the Greek said the highest ethic in life was to reach a place of contentment. This wasn't a uniquely Christian teaching. The Greeks taught this. In fact, there's a subculture of Greeks known as the Stoics. They were all about contentment, but the Stoics said the way that you get to contentment is you possess less. You got rid of your possessions, you diluted your desires, and you trained yourself to not care. In fact, the Stoics literally taught people to say, I don't care. When life devastates, you say, I don't care. When my dog dies, I don't care. When my child dies, I don't care. When my spouse dies, I don't care.

When I'm diagnosed with that debilitating disease, teach yourself to say, I don't care. The Stoics said you can be content. You just white-knuckle your way into contentment. So here's Paul talking about contentment and they're yawning. We've heard this before, Paul. And then Paul hits them with the left hook. Talking about contentment, Paul says, I can do all things not by sheer force of will. Not by training myself to say, I don't care. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is the only way to contentment, why? Because notice how we started. Contentment is a matter of the heart. You can't will your heart to do anything. There's only one person who can get to your heart. It's not even you, it's Christ. I can do all things through Christ. Oh, but I gotta stop because I really believe, no overstatement here. I really believe Philippians 4.13 is the most misunderstood, misapplied verse in the Bible. We use Philippians 4.13 as a bumper sticker for individualism. Found yourself squeezed in between life's proverbial rock and hard place. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You got a financial issue? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I can overcome this. That's not what this is teaching. Let me illustrate. To me, the last great heavyweight champion was Mike Tyson. In the mid 90s, a Christian by the name of Evander Holyfield stepped into the ring against Mike Tyson. You ought to YouTube the two fights. In the first fight, Evander Holyfield walks out. He's got on a robe and embroidered on it, Philippians 4.13. Takes off his robe, on the shorts, Philippians 4.13. Now I'm guessing what Evander Holyfield meant was that God will give me the strength to beat this guy. Oh, Evander. Philippians 4.13 is probably saying the exact opposite. Philippians 4.13 has nothing to do with whether or not you win. It's how you respond whether or not you win or lose. If I knock him out, the proper application is I'm content. That victory and paycheck does not define me. And equally, if he knocks me out inside of three seconds and I'm lying flat on my back and I become a social media meme for the rest of my life, I'm still content because that doesn't define me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Well, how does that happen? If Christ is the only one who can empower us towards contentment, then my friend, we better fly to him daily

as the only power source for contentment. It's what Jesus had in mind when he said in John 15. I am the true vine and my father's a vine dresser Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit already You're clean because of the word that I've spoken to you abide abide Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine neither Can you unless you abide in vine? I love it. Jesus says I am the true vine The idea here is I am the true and only source of permanent life satisfaction and contentment I'm the true vine not Amazon I'm the true vine Not what the scale says to you I'm the true vine not your bank account Arthur pink Christian leader said it this way Real contentment is only possible by being much in the presence of the Lord Jesus It is only by cultivating intimacy with that one who has never who was never Discontent that we shall be delivered from the sin of complaining. It is only by daily fellowship with him Whoever delighted in the father's will that we shall learn the secret of contentment So I want you to hear me If you're here and I promise you you are and you don't know Christ as Lord and Savior The worst thing God could ever do to you Is to allow you to get full and permanently satisfied on the things of this world That's the worst The best thing he could ever do Is to allow you to experience Perpetual dissatisfaction So that it will drive you to the only one who satisfies I Promise you you're here You're gonna man, this is crazy. I'm making all the money

I'm doing all this stuff. I'm living the dream, but there's this emptiness. Yes, the emptiness is screaming Jesus So today we invite you to turn to him To relinquish control of your life whether you're in rock-bottom or clifftop relinquish it For we Christ followers Maybe the call is Daily what I'm gonna scroll is Jesus That that every time I Feel discontentment raise its head. I'm gonna take that as an alert To fly to Christ That I'm going to with ruthless Commitment Throw myself on him Notice Paul never says stop buying stuff. That's the stoic way Turn to Jesus Daily Over and over and over and over and over again turn to him So father we bless you If ever there was a easier said than done this is it We all have a thing We trust you I Can do all things Through Christ It's not a general bumper sticker for triumphing over whatever life throws at us, but it is a call To rest in Christ saturated contentment May it be so Lord May it be so Amen

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