Contentment rarely sounds all that attractive to me. It’s not the idea of contentment, so much as how we talk about it. I don’t know about you, but when I hear someone say they’re content, it usually sounds like a concession. It sounds a lot like settling.

Have you heard this before? I really want to see Black Widow and the new James Bond movie in theaters, but I’d be content to watch them from home if things keep up the way they are now. Most football fans would love to see a full season, but will be content with a shorter one if the alternative is no football at all. Who wouldn’t want to come home to a gourmet meal? Sorry, that takes how long to cook? No, I’ll be content with leftovers! When we say we’re content, what we usually mean is that we’d prefer one thing, but we’ll settle for something else.

However, the Apostle Paul had something else in mind when he wrote about his contentment. Philippians 4:11-13 describes contentment from behind prison bars.

Not that I am 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 him who strengthens me.

Paul doesn’t contrast what makes him content with what he’d really prefer instead. He contrasts contentment with being in need. Contentment isn’t concession; it’s satisfaction.

What satisfied the Apostle was the knowledge that he had Jesus. Jesus would provide everything he needed which meant, regardless of his circumstances, Paul could be satisfied. He had Jesus. He didn’t need anything else. John Newton describes Christian contentment like this: “A palace would be a prison to him without the Lord’s presence, and with this a prison would be a palace.” Paul’s prison was a palace because he knew that Jesus was with him.

My house feels a little like a prison these days. I know, that’s a bit overdramatic. But can you relate to the feeling? It’s not the same refuge it once was because many times I’m not choosing to be there. I have to be there. This pandemic has disrupted our lives in countless ways. Many of the interactions and activities that bring us joy are cancelled or severely curtailed. Perhaps we’ve conceded to being content. We’re making the best of it and finding silver linings. But are you finding much joy in that?

What if contentment is supposed to be better than that? What if God is inviting us to something better? Instead of viewing contentment as “making due,” let’s see it as being satisfied. Christ is your life and Jesus is with you in quarantine. He’s with us, living in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. That means that, regardless of our circumstances, we can be joyfully content. The fountain of our life hasn’t been shut off. The living waters of Christ still to flow to you in abundance. Your prison can be a palace because Jesus is with you.

So, take a few minutes today and reflect. Where have you seen Jesus at work in these past few months? Where have his gifts made him known? When we get into the habit of seeing what we have in Jesus, rather than what we lack in COVID, we’re on our way to joyful contentment.