Contentment is something you learn along the way. Today’s Daily Cup marks a sidelined 50th birthday with Paul’s lesson from Philippians 4 and the Christ who strengthens us through every season.
By Dianna Hobbs
Today’s starting lineup: a new book, my Snoopy PJs, and Monday Night Football.
Good thing I love football. I turned 50 today, and I had plans for this milestone birthday. Being sick has sidelined every one of them. Sidelined. Get it? Like an injured player. Any football fans? No? Well, anyway, I plan to be glued to Monday Night Football tonight as the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks go head-to-head.
Both teams are exciting to watch. I like Caleb Williams and Sam Darnold, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they match up.
My Buffalo Bills got a big dub against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, with my QB1, Josh Allen, leading the way. I’m #BillsMafia all day! I’m praying for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, though. I was so sad to see him hurt his thumb on the very first play.
Enough rambling about football. Did I mention how much I love it?
So here I am, typing away in my favorite Snoopy and Woodstock pajamas from last Christmas, feeling so content in my spirit. Earlier today, my son Kaleb showed me a video of the geese swimming across the pond in our backyard. I wasn’t up to going outside, so he brought them to me.
My heart went pitter-patter. I love, love, love Canada Geese. I think they came to see me for my birthday. That’s the story I’m telling myself, at least, and I choose to believe it.
And you will leave me in my bubble of delusion, thank you very much. I’m 50, fatigued, swollen from prednisone, and nursing an angry stomach from strong antibiotics.
Fix it, Jesus.
Even with everything going on physically, I have plenty to celebrate. My new eBook, Finding Gratitude in the Dark: 28 Days to See God’s Goodness More Clearly, released on Kindle today. Some of you have already signed up for the Gratitude Challenge, and a few of you made a birthday donation to my nonprofit. Thank you! If you’d like to celebrate with me, pick up the book, give a birthday gift, or both.
It’s a good day.
And since I’ve officially joined the fifties club, which has a really nice ring to it, I want to share one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my half-century of life.
The Apostle Paul said it better than I ever could.
“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:12–13 KJV).
That’s it right there. I’ve learned how to be up. I’ve learned how to be down. As the old Gospel song says, I’ve been “almost level to the ground.”
And sometimes leveled, child. Ha. Looking up at bottom. I’m laughing, but you know I’m telling the truth. Life has taken your girl through some things.
I’ve experienced seasons when blessings seemed to flow from every direction and others when I wondered how I would make it through another day. I’ve witnessed God open astounding doors I couldn’t have opened for myself. I’ve watched Him answer prayers, perform miracles, restore what seemed lost, and bless me beyond anything I could have imagined.
I’ve also known what it’s like to be desperately ill, to lose people I love, to have my plans interrupted, and to face circumstances that made it seem as though my best days were behind me.
But as I celebrate this milestone birthday, I can truly say the Lord has been faithful through all of it. Like Paul, I’ve learned how to be abased, brought low and humbled, and how to abound, to have more than enough.
Just before that, in Philippians 4:11, Paul writes, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
The Greek word translated learned is emathon, from the verb manthanō, meaning to learn, come to understand, or acquire knowledge through instruction and experience.
I love that Paul says, “I have learned.”
Contentment was something he picked up along the way. Life had taught him some things. He had endured hardship, experienced abundance, suffered deprivation, and watched his circumstances change again and again.
And through it all, he learned.
That same verb, manthanō, appears in Hebrews 5:8, this time as emathen, describing Jesus: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.”
Jesus was sinless and perfectly obedient to the Father. When He took on human flesh, He came to know by experience what obedience costs. Fully God and fully man, He knew anguish, shed tears, and submitted to the Father’s will with unimaginable pain ahead of Him.
Hebrews 5:7 describes Him offering prayers and supplications “with strong crying and tears.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, as the agony of the cross drew near, He prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus walked that road of obedience all the way to Calvary.
We learn through what we endure, too.
The truths we profess take root as we lean on God in the hard places. And our Savior understands every painful step. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that we have a High Priest who can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”
When you’re hurting, Jesus understands. When your heart is heavy, Jesus understands. When obedience is costly and the road ahead is painful, Jesus understands.
They mocked Him. They betrayed Him. They denied Him. They beat Him. They pressed a crown of thorns into His head. They nailed Him to a cross. His lifeless body was laid in a rich man’s tomb.
But early on the third day, He got up. Death couldn’t hold Him. The grave couldn’t keep Him. The One who endured the humiliation of the cross rose in victory and was exalted in glory.
Philippians 2:8–9 says Jesus “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.”
Every name.
And at that name, every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10–11).
The One who wore a crown of thorns is now crowned with glory and honor (Hebrews 2:9). Through His death and resurrection, He has opened the way to eternal life for everyone who believes in Him.
Because Jesus lives, we have an eternal hope that carries us through every earthly trial. Suffering is temporary; the glory God has promised us is eternal. There is a day coming when pain will be no more. Sorrow will be no more. Death will be no more. Revelation 21:4 says God Himself will wipe away all tears from our eyes.
And the same Savior who wore a crown of thorns has promised a crown of life to those who are faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10).
So here I am at 50 years old, sitting in my pajamas on a birthday that looks nothing like I planned, with a heart full of thanksgiving.
I’m still here. I’m still trusting God. I’m still learning.
And I’m yet rejoicing.
The Christ who strengthens me is the Christ who conquered death. He has brought me through 50 years of living, and I trust Him with whatever comes next.
To mark the occasion, here’s the sweetener I’m stirring into your cup of inspiration today, found in 1 Peter 5:10 KJV: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
As you drink down the contents of your cup, know this: Peter said you would suffer “a while.” The Greek word is oligon, meaning a little. Weighed against the eternal glory awaiting us, even a lifetime of suffering is brief.
The God of all grace, who has called us to that glory, will establish you, strengthen you, and settle you. Oh, bless His great name.
You can learn to be abased. You can learn to abound. And in the seasons you never would have chosen, you can come to know the God who has been sustaining you all along.
Fifty years of learning, and there’s one lesson I think I’ve mastered: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Now, let’s pray.
Father, thank You for Your faithfulness through every season and for the lessons that have deepened our faith and taught us to depend on Your strength.
Thank You for sending Your Son to suffer and die for our sins and for raising Him from the dead in victory. We rejoice that He is exalted and seated in glory, and that through Him we have the promise of eternal life.
As we keep learning, help us grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
