The Secret

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any place and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need." Philippians 4:11-12

I have an uncomfortable question written down in my prayer journal. Simply put, it asks, "What does it mean and look like to experience God as our satisfaction, even without the blessings that He could provide?" Can we dare to allow His Spirit to search us with that? Could we be honest enough to come to grips with whether or not we see true fulfillment as depending upon what He gives, or in who He is?

There used to be an abundance of bumper stickers that proclaimed, "Jesus Satisfies." Whenever I saw one, I had to wonder, is that really the testimony of the car's owner? And then the even deeper question; is it my testimony? Is it yours? When His visible blessings disappear in our lives, would we still find satisfaction in Him? Or, is our satisfaction really based on what He gives, not who He is? Is our loyalty, our worship, our praise, rooted in what He blesses us with, or do we know that the truly blessed life is the one that is filled with Him? Do we love and worship the Provider or just His provision? When we come to the place where what we lack is everywhere before us, is He Himself enough? An author once asked this; "When in the midst of need, and we turn to some other means of deliverance than Him, how will we explain to Him that in that place, we didn't believe that He was enough?" I think we all, and in more than one place, have looked elsewhere for our help, to our great harm. How do we justify to Him an action that clearly proved we didn't believe He was sufficient for the hour?

I've come to believe that more and more, we tend to live out a blessing based faith. When His visible blessings are abundant and visible, our faith is strong. When they're not..... The result is that the strength of our faith is often rooted in His activity, or lack of it, in our lives. Clear proof that we, like Paul, have yet to learn the secret to victory in all places. That is coming to find and live in the secret place, and that place is found in Him, in His heart and in His life. Jesus called it abiding in Him. In all places, we abide...in Him. Then we know the well being Paul speaks of, a well being we live in even when life lacks those things the world says we must have in order to be happy and content.

The blessed life isn't defined by what He has given us. It's defined by the degree in which we abide in Him. Which defines us?

Blessings,
Pastor O