Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Philippians 1-4
Philippians 4:12
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Experiencing the full range of the human condition is a wonderful thing. Paul touched on such in his writings to the saints in Philippi. Being abased is the opposite of abounding; Paul experienced both. Being instructed (taught by experience probably) he knew how to deal with being both full and hungry, and how to abound and suffer need. These three sets of opposing experiences worked together for good to give him the confidence to write the next verse.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. He knew this because he lived this. The apostle experienced the full range of the human condition. As such his writings have a balance. His teachings are not always from the perspective of being “topside” and they are not from the standpoint of being “down and out.” Consider the benefits of having such a balance of experiences in life.
In one instance he was tested, tried, and found faithful in all. Not in a civil court or in regard to secular laws, but examined through the critical eye of self. Unless a person has been abased, they do not know how they will respond when being abased. Likewise with abounding (promoted), or being hungry, or full, or abound in the physical wants, needs and desires of life, or suffering need of these. Through each of these contradictory circumstances Paul remained faithful. How? Through Christ. Which brings us to the next benefit of experiencing the full human condition.
By doing so, Christ is proven. Not that He is believed on through proof, but rather by faith. In times of need, or success, Jesus works to allow individuals to grow their confidence in His ability. For example, it may have been with great faith that a person begins to give financially to faith promise missions through their church. But after years of doing so, they see how the Lord provides for them when it seems there is no provision, or increases income according to the measure given. Over time of having need and having abundance, the confidence that through it all Christ will be sufficient will increase. Great faith comes through experience. That experience then serves a purpose larger than self, it produces something else.
It produces credible influence in leadership. To the needy, one that has been needy and experienced God’s supply can have a powerful influence. To those who have need of nothing, those that have abounded financially and stayed faithful to Christ and His Word, can be an example for others to follow. If a person is only ever abased, they have no experience in abounding. If all a person knows is hunger, they have no knowledge of how to always be full. But by experiencing both, and conquering both through faith, a well-rounded and reliable testimony can influence those at both extremes.
Therefore, thank the Lord for the extremes experienced in life. Good times or bad, wealth or poverty, winning or losing, being humbled and being promoted, in sickness or health, thank God for those extremes. For there is great benefit in them. Perhaps the greatest is knowing that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. How? Because you lived it.
Dr. William T. Howe
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