Philippians 4:10 – How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. (NLT)
When I read this passage, I decided to do a little test. I typed ‘Secret of Success’ into Google search. Two things about that search were very interesting. First, it gave me 15,100,000 results. Second, by page five of the results I had yet to come across anything Christian in nature, although I did see plenty of websites wanting people to send in their money in order to find out the secret of success!
Did you know that Christian have the secret to success? Could it be so secret that even many Christians don’t know it? Paul states in verse 12: “I have learned the secret of living in every situation.” Every situation? Really? Could Paul mean that he knows the secret of living through a broken marriage? Could he mean the secret of living through the loss of a loved one? Does this really mean the secret of living through days in which it would appear that no one really cares for you? Yes, for these situations and every other, Paul has the secret!
Paul’s secret is there in verse thirteen: “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” What does it really mean to do things through Christ? Does it mean that we can do anything? Can we run a three minute mile? After all, Paul does say everything! To understand what Paul means by ‘everything’ we must understand it within the context of this letter.
Let us remember the most important context of this letter – Paul was imprisoned. The ‘everything’ of verse thirteen is being content no matter what one’s circumstance. Paul learned the secret of being content even in prison. I’m not sure how you would define success, but I believe that being happy is successful, and I believe that God does want us to experience happiness. Paul learned the secret to contentment, and it was through his relationship with God through Jesus.
If we back up just a few verses in this letter, Paul writes about how one can experience God’s peace, which brings contentment. He wrote: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
Today, let’s not worry, but instead pray. Let’s tell God what we need, not what we want. Let’s live today thanking God for all God has done for us, and we, like Paul, will learn to be content no matter what this day brings.
Posted by Ramón Torres
Welcome back….while I like to think I have been and will continue to be content in life’s situations…I am increasingly concerned about events happening in our world. I am confused how Christians, myself included can sit quietly in our pews, I am confident we pray, but say and do little when so many innocent lives are being taken by gun violence here in America and wars all over the world. Your message about being bold challenged us ….we just don’t want to disrupt our lives. “Just because it’s not happening to us doesn’t mean it’s not happening” Thank you Lord for bringing our Mexico Missionaries home safe and continue to bless those they served…🙏