I learned the secret

"I know how to live in humiliation, and I know how to live in abundance. In everything and everywhere I have learned to be satisfied and to be hungry, to be in abundance and to be in need" (Philippians 4:12).

The Holy Spirit gives us the secret to learn how to live when life is not as we would like it to be, when we do not have the resources we would like to have, when our dreams have not come true. Paul said : "Not only do I know that I can endure everything, but I have a secret and this secret is that I can live fully, both in times of plenty and in moments of scarcity."

How many of you know that sometimes we need to understand the secret of plenty more than the secret of hunger ? When one lives in abundance, it is very easy to lose sight of our need for God. If you find it difficult to make ends meet, you become very dependent on the Holy Spirit. You really pray.

We often think that the most difficult for Paul was to learn how to live in need. No, I think the hardest part for Paul was to learn how to live in abundance and I think the same is true for us. But there is this precious promise here that surpasses all our understanding. The promise that we can do everything through Christ and that it will be provided to each of our needs. This additional promise is found in verse 19 where we read : "And my God will provide all your needs according to his riches, with glory, in Jesus Christ" (Philippians 4:19).

Again, it is in the context of saying : "I learn how to be humiliated. I learn how to advance without anything and even amidst all this, I know that God will provide for all my needs. "There is no mention of what one wants. He did not mention our ambitions. It is not even our desires. It is said : "God will provide all your needs."

Gary Wilkerson