Corona Devo 1543

We might be willing and able to quote a number of Bible verses.  I have some favorites, like Jeremiah 29:11, and you know John 3:16.  

But (if we are honest), there are some verses that we don't really want to recite and say out loud, for fear that they might actually happen and apply to our lives.

There is a deep-level of having faith in God that makes us nervous because of the uncomfort that we might have to experience to get there.

But the apostle Paul was not afraid to say it out loud, and he was not faking any of his faith in God.

In humility and honesty, Paul prays and praises God and those who have supported him in God's work...and you just can't make a prayer like Paul's up.  His truth about hard things pretty much proves that he is not lying.  

Because....we just don't say those things unless we mean them, and although (and because) Paul had been through a lot...he meant what he said.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. (12) I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (13) I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.  ~Philippians 4:11-13

Paul is being real here.  And that makes his confessions of reliance on God all the more powerful.  

Paul had been through some stuff:  

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. (25) Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, (26) I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. (27) I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked... (31) The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.  ~2 Corinthians 11:24-28, 31

Yes, Paul had been through some stuff...but we have too.  And maybe we are going through some dire straits today.

But Paul's faith...because of his trials...was authentic and rock solid.  Ours can be too.  Even if it takes a trial today to develop it.

Paul's faith was such that he trusted and relied and was content in God (alone) through the storms. That's powerful. 

We can fake a lot of things: smiles, images, online personas, functioning marriages, finances...  But dig a little deeper and things are sometimes not so perfect, but few people may ever know it.

Faith is harder to fake.  If we are going to speak of our complete reliance on God, it is (most likely) coming from a deep well of faith-experiences.  

In reading Paul's writing, I find that it would be almost impossible to be an imposter in what he is saying.  If we are going to say that we trust God in the most difficult of times, then often and usually, we have gone (or are going) through those times with Him. 

You can't make faith like this up.  We (and Paul) would only say it if we meant it...and Paul did (mean it): 

...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. (12) I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (13) I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.  ~Philippians 4:11-13

Our family knows another family who "means it" today.  Who is not faking-their-faith today.  They are going through a difficult time. Very difficult.  Career ending, family and marriage threatening, and possibly "free" life interrupting.  And yet their faith is firm.  Powerful even. 

Although things are looking bleak from the outside-in, the dad quoted Psalm 56:11 to us last week: In God I trust and am not afraid.  What can man do to me?

If we knew their whole situation, we would know how very powerful their proclamation of that verse is.  

You just can't make faith like that up. 

When we are going through life's most turbulent storms, if we are clinging to Christ, then it is evident to those around us. There is a strength that is not natural, because it is absolutely supernatural.  If we will allow our faith to carry us, then God gives us contentment in even the worst times. 

I pray that for you and I today, that we can be encouraged by Paul and by others that we know with this "content" faith. 

Can we be those with a content faith?

~~~

We might be willing and able to quote a number of Bible verses, but I wonder today...are Philippians 4:12-13 some of them?

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (13) I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.  ~Philippians 4:11-13

You can't fake the faith it took for Paul to recite what he says here.

But we don't want to fake our faith anyway.  

In fullness or in lack today, we can do all this through Christ who gives us strength.

Amen.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com