Have you learned the secret of contentment? I think we can each learn to be content in certain circumstances or certain places in life. I'm thinking of my mom; she can be perfectly content staying at home, sitting in her chair crocheting, maybe reading, watching TV or even working a puzzle. Being content with your place in life is one kind of contentment.
I think the apostle Paul is referring to soul contentment here. That encompasses being content with your place in life, because he refers to being well fed or hungry, to living in plenty or in want, but I believe he is including so much more than just our material well-being or lack of. Paul, in his writings often uses the physical world to illustrate the spiritual one.
What exactly does soul or spiritual contentment entail? I think it is summed up in his next statement, "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength." Paul is resting in the fact that his strength comes from the Lord. When he can't provide for his own needs (he is hungry or in want in some other way) he relies on God to provide. When he knew he was heading into hostile territory because the Jews wanted to imprison and kill him he rested in the assurance that God was for him and would walk him through whatever lay ahead.
How do we get to this place of contentment? I think it lies in another statement made by an Old Testament prophet, "Boast in this alone: that they truly know and understand me, that I am the Lord" (Jer. 9:24); for us to truly know the One through whom we can do all things. When we know Him and allow our spirits to rest in His strength we know there is nothing that can truly overcome us. It is not ease. It doesn't mean that we have no troubles or difficulties. It means that we have true satisfaction--that we have true soul contentment.
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