Philippians 4:13-14 ESV
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
In this chapter we discover that which we already know, but are often hesitant to admit. Christians sometimes argue and disagree. Christians sometimes worry and fret. Christians sometimes experience suffering and lack. This is a reality.
But it is also a reality that we ought not to fight when we disagree. Unfortunately when we disagree with someone we often color them as less spiritual, sometimes even rebellious or wicked. Euodia and Syntyche are "outed" with each other, as an old friend used to say. They were both good, godly women who had faithfully served the Lord. Somehow they got crossways with each other. Paul urges the church to help them patch things up.
It is a reality that Christians sometimes worry and fret. But it is also a reality that they don't need to. Paul says to rejoice, be reasonable, pray,give thanks, and think on good and honorable things. Let God's peace therefore reign in you.
It is a reality that Christians sometimes suffer and experience lack. But it is also a reality that God calls us to serve and minister to one another. It is a reality that whether we are experiencing want or excess, God is always there. It is a reality that whatever we truly need, God will provide. Unlike Paul, we often have not figured out what we truly need and what we can do without.
Christians are not perfect, but God is. We have the privilege and opportunity to be the hands and feet of God by serving one another. We have the privilege and opportunity to experience God's peace when circumstances would dictate otherwise. We have the privilege and opportunity to love those with whom we disagree. It's not perfection that makes Christians unique. It is the perfect God that we serve. He is the one who said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Father, thank you for your constant and unfailing presence in my life. May my relationships, my thought life, my attitudes and my actions reflect you.
By His grace,
Rick weinert
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