Making The Best Of Every Situation

 

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:11-12). These are the words of the Apostle Paul written from prison. This didn’t come naturally; it had to be learned. The Apostle says he makes the best of those times when he is in need. When he doesn’t have enough to eat or a warm bed to sleep in, he says he has done this even now when he is in prison. He is grateful for the times when there is plenty, but equally grateful for those times when he doesn’t have enough.

What is this secret that Paul has learned—that has changed his life? The secret that enables him to be content in any and every situation. I think he states it in these words: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). That is an amazing statement which translates to “I can manage with less food, uncomfortable living conditions, because I can do this through Christ who gives me the strength I need. Equally important is that he accepts those times when he has more than enough. These times don’t seem to spoil the Apostle or make him think he deserves to live this way all the time.

Isn’t this a secret we all need? We often think, “If I just had more money, more opportunity, more success, more influence, how different my life would be.” This secret teaches us to believe that God is in control and that He gives us the plenty and the want, the feast and the famine. If this is true, we can, like Paul says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” This is a life-changing mentality. We don’t need anyone else in life; we don’t need anything else to make us fulfilled because we have Christ. He gives us the strength to face each situation.

What situation is robbing you of your joy? What need is causing you to envy your neighbor and think I would be happy if I had what he has? No, if you have Christ, you have all you need to experience real, authentic joy.

Paul exhorts us to work on our thinking: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). There is a serious connection between what we think about and how we feel. This is also part of the secret.

 

Author of Crianza Responsiva:

https://www.amazon.com/Crianza-Responsiva-Principios-conectados-saludables-ebook/dp/B08FW8Q7D5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=crianza+responsiva&qid=1610663595&sr=8-1

When Life is on Hold

When life feels like it is on hold, we are most apt to feel discouraged.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes in The Gulag Archipelago the benefits of his prison experience:

…In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, not between classes, not between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts…So, bless you, prison, for having been in my life.

When the Biblical Joseph wound up in prison both times, he found his way out and up because he committed his life to the sovereignty of God. It wasn’t fair of his brothers to sell him into slavery, nor was it fair that Potiphar’s wife unfairly accused him of sexual assault, but he trusted God to deliver him. He was in prison, and his life was on hold. When the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome, he modeled this attitude: “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,  for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” (Philippians 1:15-19)

It is hard to remain faithful when life seems to be on hold, especially if we put our confidence in man, because human beings will fail us. But we remember that God is with us. As Jeremiah told us in one of his worst moments: “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:19:24).  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

We must learn to trust God’s timing, and if we do, God will bless us in the moment of our prison, when life is on hold. We feel we are limited, but God is not. Our best moments can come from those times when life is on hold, and it seems that nothing is happening. Only trust God, and he will deliver you!

 

Author of Crianza Responsiva:

https://www.amazon.com/Crianza-Responsiva-Principios-conectados-saludables-ebook/dp/B08FW8Q7D5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=crianza+responsiva&qid=1610663595&sr=8-1