Dr Paul Allen

“Why? Why? Why?” The seemingly endless questions of a three-year-old test our patience at times. But even in those moments, we rejoice because those whys reveal a budding interest in how the world works. And asking why about the world isn’t just for kids—it’s for all people at every age, because curiosity about creation points to the Creator. But whys aren’t always good, particularly when they’re focused backward rather than forward. That’s what the preacher in Ecclesiastes tells us: Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. (Eccles. 7:10) Looking back—it’s something we’re all tempted to do from time to time. We look back to something we once had—health, wealth, success, a relationship—that’s now lost to us, perhaps forever. But often our backward look isn’t so much to a major loss but to a time that worked just a little bit better than now. Perhaps today we don’t enjoy the quality of friendships we knew before, or our marriage ...

If we are honest, most of us would have to admit that we are not . Few find the contentment for which we all long. The reasons for this are legion. First, we tend to wed contentment with the externals of life.  You know the kind of thing: all the stars align, you are on vacation up in the mountains (or at the beach), a cool breeze blows through the screened-in porch, the children are playing happily outside, no bugs are biting, no deadlines threaten, every bill is paid, and the investment accounts are all on the up. You sit back in your chair and think, “This is the life!” There is no battle for this kind of contentment. It just happens when la dolce vita happens. This brings us to our second reason why we do not find ourselves contented: in a fallen world, la dolce vita rarely happens. It might happen for others, but not for us. Some fly always seems to be buzzing around our ointment. Some cloud always seems to shadow our sun. Some child always seems to be crying in our family. S...

“I am able to do all things by the one who strengthens me.” Paul’s bold declaration in Philippians 4:13 is one of the most commonly quoted passages in the New Testament. We find the verse on everything—from clothing to tattoos, and even eye makeup is worn by professional athletes. A friend of mine recently quoted this verse to support her belief that God would help her achieve an exercise-related goal. The assumption is that Paul’s statement promises that we can accomplish any task in our lives because Christ will strengthen us. We invoke this verse to comfort ourselves and others in difficult circumstances. While the Bible affirms God’s ability to do anything he pleases (e.g., Matt 19:26 ; Mark 9:23 ; compare Job 42:2 ; Jer 32:17 ), this is not Paul’s point in Philippians 4:13 . The context of Philippians 4:13 If we look at the surrounding context of this passage, we find that Paul’s primary concern is the Philippian church’s financial support of his ministry. Philippians 4:13...

Scripture prescribes only one remedy to this frustration: contentment. Biblical contentment is a spiritual virtue that we find modeled by the Apostle Paul. He states, for example, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” ( Phil. 4:11 ). No matter the state of his health, wealth, or success, Paul found it possible to be content with his life. In Paul’s era, two prominent schools of Greek philosophy agreed that our goal should be to find contentment, but they had very different ways of getting there. The first of these, Stoicism, saidimperturbability was the way to contentment. Stoics believed that human beings had no real control over their external circumstances, which were subject to the whims of fate. The only place they could have any control was in their personal attitudes. We cannot control what happens to us, they said, but we can control how we feel about it. Thus, Stoics trained themselves to achieve imperturbability, an inner sense of peace that would lea...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I just want to be married! Recently a young woman shared what she was struggling with: namely being content. She has strong faith. She loves the Lord Jesus . But she longs to be married. And so sometimes she feels deeply discontent. And she wondered what she could do to find more contentment. She’s not alone. We all struggle with contentment. Maybe it’s not about getting married. But we might feel discontentment over our –careers,  marriages , homes, cars, health, income, and...

Jeremiah Burroughs (c1600-1646), one of the Five Dissenting Brethren who supported the Independent position at the Westminster Assembly. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Contentment is one of the most difficult Christian virtues to attain. Almost four hundred years ago, Jeremiah Burroughs referred to the "rare jewel" of Christian contentment . It is safe to say that contentment is no more common in our day than it was in Burroughs'. Yet, it remains one of the most crucial virtues. A contented Christian is the one who best knows God 's sovereignty and rests in it. A contented Christian trusts God, is pure in heart, and is the one most willing to be used of God — however God sees fit. We live in a world that breeds discontent. We are bombarded with the message that to be happy we need more things, less wrinkles, better vacations, and fewer troubles. But, ultimately, the problem is the sinful human heart . We are often discontented in our jobs, our marriages, our churches,...