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Philippians 4:11 – Home Sweet Home
Ahh…apartment, semi-sweet, apartment. Doesn’t quite have the comforting familiar ring of “home sweet home,” does it? Walking up to our apartment I said that to my family with a touch of facetious wit…not serious sarcasm. Humor can be a useful tool that reveals reality more clearly. For example, instead of saying, “At least we have a roof over our heads,” I used the following trifecta:
- “At least we have a ceiling over our heads.”
- “At least we have a floor over our heads.”
- “At least we have a family over our heads.”
All of the above could be taken quite literally, and quite incorrectly. Lest anyone think I am ungrateful, I pray to God when I hear the rain, or walk out into the cold; I say a prayer of thanksgiving for His protection from the elements. And to keep our family balanced, we as parents instruct our children to be thankful for God’s protection no matter what form it may take.
Speaking of balance, just think of all the homeless (whether there by sin or circumstance) crowded around grates, covered with cardboard boxes and stuffing newspapers into their clothes to stay warm…to stay alive. Let us remember the truly poor with inadequate accommodations, rotted and rotting holes in the floors and roofs, infested with vermin and bugs. And contemplate how the poor of the world with distended bellies, are deeply destitute compared to the subsidized poor of our materially blessed nation.
Ahh, the simple blessing of a hot shower! It’s hard to fully appreciate until you’ve done without.
How blessed we all our, whether in houses, condominiums, apartments, trailers, or rented rooms. Home sweet home, no matter what – because the home is not the house; because the no matter what the accommodations, God is providing.
But enough about everybody else. Let’s get back to our circumstances! See, another example of facetious wit!
After living 15 years in a house, divine providence has us live in an apartment with other people’s furniture, borrowed TV’s, and yes even forks, spoons, bowls and plates that are not ours. What a…blessing. Not the word you expected? And definitely not the word the world would use. And yet, re-examine that sentence. Don’t focus on what we do not own. Focus on the love that others are showing us in our time of need – a blessing. Focus on the things we have, even if they are not ours – a blessing. Focus on what we have, not on what we do not have.
That’s one of the secrets of contentment – focusing on the blessings of what we have; not what we don’t have – and not on what others have.
Philippians 4:11 – Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. (NASB)
Contentment – maybe the hardest command for Americans to keep. Is it wrong to want better things? No, as long as:
- We give God the glory for whatever we have.
- We use what we have to God’s glory.
- We are content with what God has given us for His glory.
Paul spoke of believers who were rich: Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. (18) Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, (19) storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. (1 Timothy 6:17-19) (NASB)
In reference to his own ever changing situations, Paul also said, I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. (Philippians 4:12) (NASB)
So as our family looks for a house, pray that we will find what God wants us to have. Pray that we will know how to get along in a humble house, or know how to live in a not so humble house. Pray that our choice will be God’s choice. Pray that whatever decision is made, we can glorify God in that decision. For over a year now, we as a family have been praying that we buy a house in which we can glorify God. It is comforting hearing our children echo the prayers of their parents.
Of course, we also want a playroom, big bedrooms, a nice kitchen, upstairs, a good yard, the cat outside (well, at least I do), and a house easy to practice hospitality in (room for and convenient to the congregation)! But what we want is different from what we need. God might bless us with what we want. God might bless us with only what we need. The sentence seems a little awkward – ”only…what we need.”
Separating wants and needs is easy, and difficult. It is difficult emotionally. As a father I want to provide for my family. I want to provide their wants. I want a house where my wife can exhibit her god-given talents. I want a house where my children can bring their friends over for fun. But as a father I want and need to provide what is more important, too. I want to provide them balance. I want to provide a real understanding of the difference between wants and needs.
Separating wants and needs is easy, though, if we focus solely on God’s word and not on ourselves:
1 Timothy 6:8 – If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. (NASB)
Matthew 6:25-33 – (25) “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … (31) “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ (32) “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (NASB)
Did you notice what “need” was not mentioned in either of those texts? Food, drink, and clothing were all mentioned. Shelter, housing? Didn’t see that one listed. Maybe shelter is not even a need. Ouch! Wow!
In another passage we do see a promise about shelter, but look very carefully, and you will see that this promise is given to those who voluntarily give up there shelter.
Mark 10:29-30 NASB Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, (30) but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
So I am promised shelter, but not my own personal shelter, any more than I am promised my own private farm and brothers. Instead I am promised that if I give up my own, others will share with me theirs. I am promised that I will be taken care of. What a blessing – living with other people’s furniture, borrowed TV’s, and yes even forks, spoons, bowls and plates that are not ours.
Home sweet home, no matter what that home is. And if in this life we truly focus on, and desire a better (home), that is a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16), how sweeter will that eternal home be.
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