The trick is to get the right inflection on the two key words. It might be helpful to repeat that bit of wisdom out loud. Shut the door if you’re afraid someone will think you’re crazy and lost your mind. Then say it a few times to the mirror on the wall.
Check it out for the best way to emphasize the words every and any. It shouldn’t take long before the truth comes through loud and clear, no matter your age or status in life, single or married.
Life is full of ups and downs – financially, physically, emotionally and every other way we can think of. That we are on top of the heap today is no guarantee we’ll be up there tomorrow.
A close friend begins to ignore you. You blow a big test and have to settle for a D. Someone you really love and need moves away – or dies – or someone you look up to falls off their pedestal.
In Philippians 4:10-13, 19 the apostle Paul gave three things that helped him in his own growth that I think we all can learn from:
First, is learning to accept where you are. In Philippians 4:11 he says, “Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.”
Paul doesn’t say he got instant contentment the moment he was baptized. But through the years, as he grew in grace and knowledge and went through many hardships and tough experiences, he learned to be content in any circumstance.
For Paul, this positive statement was framed by what he had gone through in his past: numerous shipwrecks, angry mobs, trails and imprisonments, questions about his leadership from his own people. Paul knew what he was talking about. He was seldom out of a crisis.
Remember, he’s the one who sang songs of praise to God in jail in Philippi. He disciplined himself to rejoice and to give his anxieties and worries to God and to program his mind with positive thoughts.
In order to deal with any trail, we have to accept it for now. Peace of mind comes with acceptance and knowledge that God is with us in our situation. We are not alone.
There will be many days when we will want to look up and shout, “Why me, Lord?” If we listen, we might hear an answer coming back: “Why not you? I will give you the strength you need.”
The second thing Paul gives is to grow where we are. “Bloom where you are planted.” It is sometimes difficult to believe that and do it when we would rather taker our garden, flowers and tools and move to an easier place to bloom.
Paul showed his own strength by doing some of his blooming while in a prison. He longed to be free but used the experience. Read Philippians 1:12-14.
His secret is in chapter 4:13: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” Paul wasn’t growing on his own; neither can we. God was infusing him daily with the strength he needed. This same growth producing strength is available to us, through contact with God. Also read Philippians 2:13-14.
But, still others wait to be rescued. Their hope is that eventually someone will notice their plight and motivate them to grow. If no one does, other people’s neglect becomes their excuse for not changing.
Some say I’m too old and tired to attempt anything. From what I can find in the Bible God really doesn’t seem to care much about age. Retirement is not mentioned in the scriptures. Moses was well into his 80s when he undertook his greatest leadership and growth assignment.
The plain truth is that we have to do our own growing. Now, no one can do it for us.
The third thing Paul talks about is building. In Philippians 4:19, he says, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
You can’t build anything until God supplies you with materials. God supplies you with materials. His building design for our lives is in the area of supplying the things we need rather than the things we want. The problem is that we see what we don’t have rather than what God does have.
Read what Christ has to say about this in Matthew 6:31, 33.
We need to ask ourselves: How would my problem be affected if I changed my attitude from negative to positive? Can I see a possible purpose God might have in allowing me to experience this difficulty? If so, try writing out this sentence: “I believe God’s purpose for me in the problem is …” and complete the sentence.
Paul had a proven formula he was eager to share with the Christians at Philippi and with all of us today. Let’s use it.
