Does it seem to you that the world, maybe even your life, keeps lurching from one crisis to another? How can we stay calm and content in crises?

Paul, the apostle, claimed he had found the answer to this question: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content,” he said (Philippians 4:11). And this man of faith practiced what he preached. When he and his fellow missionary, Silas, were beaten and thrown into prison with their feet locked in stocks, they prayed and sang praises at midnight. Their praying could have been predicted (most of us pray when we’re in trouble), but these suffering servants of God broke into songs of praise in prison. Even in jail, they were joyful.