Came across kind of a thought provoking “command” in my reading this morning. You just kind of sense that there was a lot of churn within the church at Corinth . . . a number of issues brewing. One of them looks to be the anxiety around the question, “What do I do now that I am saved?” If I was married, do I try and get out it? If I’m not married, should I make it a priority to take a believing spouse? If I’m uncirmcumcised, do I now have to become circumcised? If I’m circumcised should I try and get uncircumcised (how would you do that?)? I was saved a slave, that can’t be the Lord’s will, I must need to get out of that situation. And to all this churn, Paul kind of says, “Take a breath!”

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him . . . Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called . . . So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” (1Corinthians 7:17, 20, 24)

Perhaps this churn was more pronounced at Corinth because of the number of “newly saved” who were asking themselves the “Now what?” question. But it seems to me that there’s some instruction here for all believers concerning being content in “whatever condition.”

That God could have plans for us to totally turn our world upside down is entirely possible. That the accountant could be called to be a preacher is possible . . . that the handyman might be called to manage a supplies depot for a missionary organization halfway across the world, shouldn’t be dismissed . . . that a gal who could barely get through English 101 would be directed of God to learn a foreign language (or languages) in order to serve an unreached peoples, is within the realm of God’s possibility. But that His calling might too involve serving Him in your current situation . . . your current condition . . . is just as much a possibility. And so, says Paul, “Remain in the condition in which you are called.”

I’m not thinking this is necessarily a “remain there forever” thing, but it could be. It certainly though, is a “remain there for a least the next step” thing. While I need to be sensitive to the Lord’s leading . . . and need to be careful about being unwilling to step out of the box I’m content to be in . . . if I’m picking up what Paul’s laying down, then I also need to be careful about not recognizing my current situation as being the exact place God wants me to be in order that I might live the life He wants me to live for His glory.

I am to lead the life that Lord has assigned to me today. It might change tomorrow . . . could end up being radically different in the future . . . but for now, this is my “whatever condition.” This is where God wants me today and I can waste a lot of today churning about what I should be doing tomorrow or, I can leave that with the Lord.

The condition almost becomes secondary if I remember that I “was bought with a price” (7:23) and that ultimately I’m under new management. Paul says that the slave is a “freedman of the Lord” even if he remains in servitude to another. And that he who is free is, in reality, “a slave of Christ.” It’s not so much then about “the condition” it’s about the context . . . and my context is “in Christ.”

And so, “in Christ,” there should be a contentment with the “whatever condition” (Php. 4:11). For today, I can trust that God has me where He wants me and I can serve Him by doing whatever I do “heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Col. 3:23).

Get rid of the churn and rest. Trust that He is able to move me where I need to be moved . . . when I need to be moved . . . but that, for now, I’m exactly where He wants me to be . . . in whatever condition . . . for His glory . . . amen?