January 18, 2023: Philippians 4:11-13: Through Christ I Am Content in Any State

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:11-13

When I posted this Scripture, I originally left off verse 13, which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me.” I did that because I had previously posted that Scripture verse, and I try and post different verses from the Bible each day and not duplicate any. However, as I sat down to write this daily devotional and after reading verses 11-12 again, I realized that verse 13 is the critical verse. The only way I can be content in any state or condition is by Christ who strengthens me. He is the one who meets my every need. He is the one who gets me through the hard times and is there with me when times are good and life is less of a challenge.

I remember when I was young, 12 or 13 years old, my parents had financial difficulties. They did not manage money well and spent money on things they wanted instead of things that were needed. We were several months behind on our mortgage and utility payments. I remember being afraid of what would happen if our home was taken away and if we had no electricity or water. I remember praying to God to please let us be able to stay in our home and not have our water or electricity cut off. I had not accepted Jesus as my Savior, but I knew who God was and I knew that He was big, so much bigger than I was. Thankfully, our home was not repossessed and our utilities we never cut off. I will always remember that prayer I made to Him. I believe He heard my prayers, the prayers of a child in need, because, as I know now, the Bible tells us He does hear our prayers. Had our home been repossessed and/or our utilities been cut off, I know that God would have gotten us through it, just as He gotten me through many difficult times in my life. This lesson that I learned at a young age was that God is there for me, and whenever I wanted to talk to Him, to cry out to Him, He is there.

Contrast that to the time in my life when I was married with two teenage children, working a full time job, and living life in a beautiful neighborhood, but I was struggling in our marriage and emotionally and spiritually. I had all that I wanted from a materialistic point of view but I was in a spiritual drought. I had accepted Jesus as my Savior a few years prior, but I still wasn’t depending on Him - I was depending on me. I had put up walls around myself in order to protect me from the hurts of life; I was an impenetrable fortress, or so I thought. But my dependence on myself resulted in a huge hole, a void, in my heart that I was filling with things instead of filling it with Him. I didn’t need things to fill it; rather, I needed Him. A few years later, I felt like I couldn’t go on. I wanted it to end. I went into my closet, got down on my knees, and cried out to Him. I finally had realized that I could not do this anymore on my own - I needed Him! God heard me that day, and for the first time in my life, I had heard Him speak to me through the Holy Spirit. That was a turning point in my life, and I will never, ever forget it. God saved me, He saved our marriage, and I am holding onto the hope that my husband and children will eventually turn to Him and be saved by accepting Jesus as their Savior.

Through the times of my life when I really struggled, in both times of scarcity and in abundance, I had cried out to God, and He had shown me that I could trust in Him. But, I had to make that critical decision: would I let Him take control of my life, and would I trust Him with it? Would I trust in Him not only for myself but also with my marriage and with our children? I am so glad that I did make that choice to trust in Him in everything.

Since then, I have went through circumstances that previously - when I trusted in myself and not in Him - I don’t know if I could have made it through. Now, however, I am looking to God, the author and finisher of my faith, to get me through the oh-so-difficult times, to be my strength when I feel like I can’t go on, and to know and remember that He sees what I cannot see and He knows what I cannot know. As the apostle Paul so beautifully reminds me, reminds us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” ✝️