Learning to Get Along in Humble Circumstances

4:12 "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need."

Paul says here that he has learned the secret of how to deal with humble circumstances, including going hungry and suffering need. Since so few of us could honestly say this, we need to pay close attention to what Paul says.

Paul certainly had his share of lowly circumstances:

"...labors, ...imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes . Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." (2Cor.11:23-27)

"To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now." (1Cor.4:11-13)

"in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, ...in glory and dishonor, [in the face of] evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; [regarded] as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." (2Cor.6:4-10)

And yet in the midst of it all, Paul was able to enjoy contentment. He was able to face humiliation without crying out in anger. He was able to face hunger without worry and danger without fear. He was able to sing while in prison.

In all of this, Paul was following in the footsteps of the One who met him on the road to Damascus:

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." (2Cor.8:9)

And the way we can enjoy contentment in all circumstances is by "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross." (Heb.12:2)

O Father, when I consider Paul’s contentment in the midst of his circumstances, I realize how attached I still am to the securities and pleasures of this world. Forgive me for believing that I need more than You. I know that if it was true that "for me to live is Christ" then I could be content in anything because nothing can separate me from His love. But when I am not content with Jesus alone, it means that there are idols in my life that must come down. Please help me, Lord. By Your Spirit’s power expose my sin and topple my idols and assure me that Your grace is sufficient