Philippians 4:11-13 --- “...for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
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How are you today? Right at this moment?
We all have times in our lives when we feel like things are going great. Things seem to be moving along really well in our family, faith, work and personal lives. We feel like we are “in the zone” of being happy and successful. I find it interesting that when we are having these times of plenty, we often forget to notice and rejoice in them, failing to fully live in these joyful moments.
However, we all have times when the world appears to be working against us at every turn. Economic pressure, fear of losing...or actually losing...your job; family strife; feeling like your faith has moved from a walk to a crawl. We sure do notice these times, don’t we? We share with others our struggles, fears, disappointments and tragedies. We can tend to complain incessantly about them.
Why is that? Why don’t we rejoice as openly in the good times in the same proportion we lament in our times of struggle?
Paul shares with us his secret for living fully with joy in the times of plenty and the times of scarcity; doing things through Christ. Although I consider Philippians 4:13 my “life verse”, I have never really thought about the doing things “through” Christ. We often use the words “in” or “with” when talking about how we call on Jesus and live our lives. But “through” Him...what does that mean?
When we do things through Christ, I think it is like having a “Christ Filter” (hope that’s not sacrilegious) on our thoughts, words and deeds. In some ways, this filter will cause us to restrict or rethink our actions, putting them in the context of “what would Jesus do?”. In other ways, it is a if Christ can give us super-powers, enabling us to accomplish things we never thought possible, only achieving them because of our faith in Him.
Regardless of whether we are in the good times and need to relish the moment...or in the bad times and need to see our way through...Christ is there for us. All we have to do is call on Him. The pastor Rick Warren talks about life’s ups and downs as a sort of railroad track, with both rails on which our journey occurs representing the good things and the bad things in our life at any given time. We must travel along both, and both are necessary to keep moving forward.
When you think about the things in this life you cherish most, did they come easy? Were they handed to you without cost, struggle or challenge? Likely not. We have to work for these things which bring us our greatest joys. Marriages struggle at times, and take work to restore. Children are difficult in different ways at their various ages, and require time and love to care for. For any of these situations, we need strength to persevere and move through them to our times of joy.
So, my dear friends, call on Christ. Have faith that you can do all things through Him who strengthens you. But just as importantly, remember to “Rejoice, again I say Rejoice!”. Are you having a great day? Are you living in a time of plenty? Is your life full of blessings on this day, even if there are some tough things going on too? Give thanks and rejoice for all of these things!
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