| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 16 |
Page 5 |
The secret of Christian joy is the peace of Christ in the heart. Then one is not dependent on circumstances or conditions. St. Paul said he had learned in whatsoever state he was, therein to be content. That is, he had formed the habit of happiness and had mastered the lesson so well, that in no state or condition, whatever its discomforts were, was he discontented. We know well that his circumstances were not always congenial or easy. But he sang songs in his prison with just as cheerful a heart and voice as when he was enjoying the hospitality of some loving friend. His mood was always one of cheer, not only when things went well, but when things went adversely. He was just as songful on his hard days as on his comfortable days.
“It is easy enough to be pleasant
When life flows by like a song;
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything goes wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with years;
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through the tears.”
Then St. Paul gives us the secret of his abiding gladness in the word he uses – “content.” It means self sufficed. He was self sufficed – that is, he carried in his own heart the springs of his own happiness. When he found himself in any place he was not dependent on the resources of the place for his comfort. The circumstance might be most uncongenial. There might be hardship, suffering, want; but in himself he had the peace of Christ, and this sustained him so that he was content.
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