Overcoming Life's Ups and Downs
By Charles Stanley
Read | Philippians 4:10-13
Have
you ever heard a testimony from someone who has been through a horrible
tragedy? We tend to pay very close attention to such accounts because
the person involved has witnessed firsthand God’s faithfulness and power
to restore a broken life.
Of
all the witnesses to God’s grace in times of trouble, none is more
compelling than the apostle Paul. He was certainly no stranger to
hardship. Throughout his ministry, he was chased, beaten, stoned,
arrested, shipwrecked, and accused of heresy by both the Jewish leaders
and the Roman government. This was certainly a stark contrast to his
early life, in which he enjoyed the luxuries and opportunities that his
Roman citizenship and Jewish education provided.
There
were amazing ups and downs in Paul’s life. As a result, he earned the
right to make the proclamation found in Philippians 4:12: “I know how to
get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in
prosperity.”
And
what was the lesson the apostle came away with as a result of these
experiences? He tells us in verse 12: “In any and every circumstance I
have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having
abundance and suffering need.”
Paul’s
“secret” is really not a secret al all, for he reveals the source of
his strength in the following verse: “I can do all things through Him
who strengthens me.” Faith in Jesus Christ and an increasing reliance on
Him will make this limitless power source a reality in your life.