Learn the secret of living
I think most, if not all, of us have probably questioned life at some point in the past. I can definitely remember a season where I cried out to God: There has got to be more to life than this…..
After what has been an extremely challenging year so far, I recently concluded that I wasn’t really living, I was just existing. I found myself getting out of bed in the morning and back into bed at night, and the stuff in between was just kind of happening. I existed just to survive the daily routine.
Don't get me wrong, I haven’t been away from God during this season; in fact, He has spoken to me more in the last year than He ever has. Or maybe I’ve made room to hear from Him, or I have purposely pursued His voice more than ever before.
I was studying Philippians 4:13 a number of months ago and drew the conclusion that we sometimes read those ten words: I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength and see them as a ‘catch all’ for our problems. We can think that by claiming those specific words for the situations we face, that all our problems will be solved. While you may take some comfort from these words, it’s the second part of v12, who gives me strength, that really stands out to me as something we need to embrace in our lives.
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:11-13 NLT
I’m sure that it wasn’t an easy process for Paul to learn to be content with whatever he had, and for him to learn the secret of living. He would have had to struggle through some challenging seasons, made mistakes, perhaps doubt his faith, and remain focused on God. We know that Paul was arrested and imprisoned more than once, was whipped and beaten severely and bitten by a snake, but through all that, he learned the secret of living in every situation.
WE NEED TO LEARN THE SECRET OF LIVING IN EVERY SITUATION.
I know that if I can learn the secret of living, then, just like Paul, I wont just survive or exist; I’ll flourish, I’ll be fulfilled, I will reach a new level of success, I will walk in the spirit, with God truly directing my steps, achieving everything that He has planned for me. I’m not content with who I am now because I know that God has so much more for me and I’m going to ‘GO GET IT’. I’m going to make it happen and nothing is going to stop me.
I saw a great quote painted on the wall of a coffee shop the other day that said:
Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is and which will be. Let us learn from the past, to profit by the present, and from the present to live better in the future.
William Wordsworth
I think that when we reflect on the past, and the evidence of the faithfulness of God working in our lives, this should change the way we walk in the present. However, so often our experiences don’t change the now, they just remain as history.
The secret of living in every situation is to learn from what God has done in our lives, to learn from the seasons we only get through because God carries us through them, to learn the promises written for us in the scriptures, to learn to hear His voice and then to be obedient as the Holy Spirit leads us.
written by Richard Evans