The calmed and weaned soul is content with the daily bestowment of divine providence. Although a weaned child does not get what he wants, he has learned to be content with whatever his loving mother gives. Likewise, the weaned child of God may not get what he wants, but he has learned to be content with whatever his loving Heavenly Father gives. Contrary to popular opinion, true faith is not proven by contending with Christ until He gives you everything you want. Instead, it is proven by your contentment with Christ even when you’re not getting anything you want. 

True faith is trusting that Christ knows best. It is believing that His failure to fulfill our will is proof that our will is contrary to Christ’s good, acceptable and perfect will for us (Romans 12:2). Since His will for us cannot be improved upon, the surrendering of our will to His is the sure sign of true faith in Him. By submitting our will to His will we acknowledge that Christ is not only sovereign over our circumstances, but working everything out for our good (Romans 8:28). It is only the great faith of a weaned soul that makes it possible for one to kneel in such self-denial and submission to Christ when everything in life seems to be spinning out of control.

Like David, the Apostle Paul was a weaned soul. He had learned to be content in every situation (Philippians 4:11). As a result, he had also learned that contentment was an invaluable spiritual virtue (1 Timothy 6:6). Being content with Christ enabled the Apostle Paul to rejoice all the time, regardless of his circumstances (Philippians 4:4). This explains how he could sing praises to God at midnight in a Philippian jail cell and write his famous epistle of joy to the Philippians while he was in prison in Rome (Acts 16:25; Philippians 1:12-18).  

Unlike happiness, which comes from the word “happenstance” and is always based on circumstance, joy is something we may possess independent of our circumstances. Since our circumstances are always changing, it is impossible for us to always be happy. When our circumstances are good, we can be happy, but when they are bad, we will be sad. On the other hand, when our joy, like the Apostle Paul’s, is in the Lord, we can rejoice all the time, since the Lord, unlike our circumstances, never changes (Hebrews 13:8).

The calmed and weaned soul has a contentment and joy impervious to the circumstances of life.