For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (Philippians 4:11) Without bad or difficult days we would not appreciate the peaceful ones. Our lives must be blended with both. What one of us considers a hardship might be considered ease for another. We all have our own cross to bear and rest assured the Lord knows exactly how much we can bear. Can’t nobody do it like Jesus. One preacher proposed that without that thorn in the flesh, without those rough days, those tests, those trials, “he would never get us to heaven.” Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Let it always be sufficient for you to think that you are where God put you for a reason…Let us believe that whatever he allows is best; let us choose rather his will than our own. If there were two places, one a place of poverty, and another a place of riches and honour, if I could have my choice, it would be my privilege to say, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Whether you have, or don’t have; whether you are at the top of your game, or struggling; whether you are considered in high esteem, or overlooked, you should be content with your position. Rest assured, whatever it is, it fits you…Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you find yourself, God would have put you there. You are put by him in the most suitable place, and if you could have had a choice, just for one-half hour, you would have come back and said, "’Lord, choose for me, because I was unable to choose what was best for me after all.’" There’s an old Aesop’s fable of the men that complained to Jupiter of their burdens. Jupiter became angry and suggested everyone get rid of their burden, and choose the one they would rather have. They all came together and took him up on it. There was a man who had a crippled leg, and he thought he could do better if he had a blind eye; the man who had a blind eye thought he could do better if he had to be poor and not blind, while the man who was poor thought being poor was the worst; so he thought he would rather be rich despite the fact that he would have to take on the rich man’s sickness as well. So they all made a change. But the fable said that within an hour they were all back again, asking if they could have their own burdens back. They found the original burdens to be so much lighter than the one they had chosen. So would this be the case for us. Thus, we should be content; we wouldn’t be better off if we had different burdens. Let us take up our cross; we couldn’t have a better trial than the one we have. It is the best for us because it sifts us the most. Yes, the trial that so easily besets us, it is exactly what we need. It will prove to be the most effective means of making us perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God. Dear Lord, bless us to pick our cross back up and follow you. You said that “your yoke is easy and your burden light.” Strengthen us, we pray, to be content in whatever state we find ourselves in, in Jesus’ name. Taken from Charles H. Spurgeon’s sermon, Contentment, New Park Street Pulpit Volume 6, March 25, 1860. GiGi❤️
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