all your needs

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." - Paul, Philippians 4:19

Paul. I just love Paul. I think it is because he and I seem to have a lot of things in common. I mean, God had to get this guy chained up in prison just so he'd sit still long enough to write most of the New Testament. Paul loved to be going and doing. Me too. I'm just hoping it won't take physical chains or a prison to keep me still enough to accomplish whatever God has planned for me.

And that is why I find myself sitting on my unmade bed, looking out the window at the snowy and icey yard, just being still. Okay, so maybe the TV is quietly on a sports channel in the background, but that's not the point. There's something about the stillness and peacefulness that comes with the snow. And so I've found myself reflecting on that verse from Philippians.

I think Paul got it, like really got it. This guys had been through it all. For years he had been a spiritual giant, though more on the Pharisaical side of it. He knew all the rules and was proud of his religion. But, after a bout of blindness, he also knew the reality that is Jesus. He really lived it, just saying. In 2 Corinthians, Paul boasts in his sufferings for Christ - not so that he could lift himself up, but rather so that He might be lifted up and and others encouraged to stand firm.

Just 7 verses before, in Philippians 4:12, Paul reveals that he knows what it is like to live in plenty and to live in want. He shares that he has learned the secret to being content in any and every situation.

Now, I'm definitely NOT a theologian. In fact, I can barely even spell it without a dictionary. But I would venture to say that Paul was all over this one. I imagine sitting down across the table from him, let's say at Subway, with the conversation going something like this...

Me: "So, Paul, I see here in Philippians that you seem to think you've discovered the secret to being content in life. Is that really even possible?"

Paul: "Without a doubt it's possible. Remember Luke 18:27, nothing is impossible with God."

Me: "Okay, so hypothetically speaking, just what IS this secret?"

Paul: "I'd say it comes down to one word. Jesus. That He is who He says He is. That He loves like He says He loves. That He saves like He says He can save. That He keeps promises and supplies needs, just like He says He will."

So, just a few days after the new year, I can't help but think about all the ways He has more than exceeded all of my needs... A perfect Savior. Loving family. Best friends. Warm house. Abundant food. Clean air and water. Church body.

Then, there are those things I like to say are "just because He can." Free school. Chick-fil-a. College football. Texting. Snow days. A best friend who is content simply to sit with this sister missing her brother. The list goes on and on and on.

So today, I will choose to trust. And in trusting, I hope to be able to say, like Paul, that I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. For surely, if He can clothe the lilies of the field and feed the birds of the air (Matthew 6), He can be just what I need, just when I need it.