The Source of True Contentment - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

Rejoice in the Lord always … Let your gentleness be known to all men … Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4–7

The Source of True Contentment
Do you know that these verses in Philippians are the words of a man confined to a Roman prison? As the surroundings of the apostle Paul became more and more bleak and depressing, his “uplook” became more and more uplifting. What did Paul see? He surely did not see only the walls and ceiling of his present circumstances in that prison cell. No, the eye of faith sees much more. The eye of faith looks way beyond anything and everything else to focus on Someone. And who is this? It is Jesus, the Man in the Glory! Once He was the Man of Sorrows; now He is the Man of Joy forever! This is indeed a sight to captivate the heart!

Then Paul goes on to tell us, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11–13). As we follow Paul’s example to look off unto Jesus, we too will be able to look beyond the walls and the ceiling of trying circumstances that seem to hem us in. Then we will discover that these circumstances are only servants to help us focus, undistracted, on the regions beyond, where Christ is seated at God’s right hand: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Soon we will be with Him there. But, in the meantime, let us “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

Jacob Redekop