Prosperity

We’re still talking about fear. Fear of economic hard times. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13 NASB) Are you aware of the context of that statement? It’s financial!

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live with prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled an going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:11-13)

Here is what I think happened to Paul from time to time. I think that Paul sometimes got so enthusiastic about giving everything away, that he sometimes out gave his supply lines. So he had days when he suddenly realized that there was literally nothing to eat. And with complete contentment he went ahead an declared a fast day, knowing that sooner or later God would send in more supplies.

Satan’s message is coming through very clearly from the media. “Be afraid. Be very afraid. Bad things are coming. And they will be intolerable.”

This is the truth. Bad things may be coming, but they will be tolerable. We can take it. We can do this. Imagine for a moment that things get as bad (or worse) than they were doing the great depression. Did people live through that? Did people still laugh and love? Was God still alive? Were they able to seek His face?

Hudson Taylor was returning from a mission trip with is wife to their home in China when he found out that their home had burned to the ground. He took the news with complete serenity. “Don’t worry, dear,” he said to his wife, “they were only things.” We can do all things through Him who gives us strength.