I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
- Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)
I have learned a great deal by meditating on the context surrounding this favorite (mis)quote from one of Paul’s prison letters. In verse 11 we read, “For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” The word content sometimes makes me think of sitting in a waiting room with my hands folded in my lap, but let’s substitute the word satisfied for content. “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be satisfied.” Think of reclining by the fire with a good book after a second helping of your favorite meal, or watching a sunset on the beach with your significant other, or cradling a newborn baby. Can you conjure up that feeling of utter satisfaction, of undisturbed rest and delight? That’s what Paul is talking about. He says, “Reclining by the fire or reclining in the stocks, I am satisfied. Resting under a sunset or wandering the earth like a nomad, I am satisfied. Experiencing the wonder of a newborn infant or fleeing by night in a basket, I am satisfied.”
Imagine feeling the exact same satisfaction in every circumstance of life. Just think about that for a minute. Paul experienced far greater things than most of us. He says so himself in verse 12: “I know how to abound.” In other words, “I know what it’s like to ascend into the third heaven and hear the audible voice of the Lord and see the unapproachable light. Believe me—I know how to abound.” And he also experienced far worse things than most of us. He reminds his readers, “I know how to be abased as well.” When you see that word abased, think facedown in the dirt with people trampling you underfoot. He is saying, “I’ve been initiated into the mud-faced life, and I’m learning it by heart.” This man knows suffering inside and out, yet he says, “I am satisfied in prison just like I’m satisfied in the third heaven.” What a state of being!
Then we read, “Everywhere,” at home or in a basket, lying on a bed or lying under a pile of bloody stones, “everywhere and in all things”—catch that phrase—“in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” And now the final puzzle piece: “I can do all things”—catch that—“all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Do you see it now? This verse has little to do with money or job or stuff or half court shots; it has everything to do with suffering. Paul is saying, “Through Christ who strengthens me, who continuously infuses me with His own power as if through an IV unit, I am enabled to
suffer all things as He did, to live the mud-faced life and be homeless and despised much of the time with the same inner satisfaction that I experience in my most ecstatic moments.” Doesn’t that make beautiful sense? Honestly, unbelievers can abound and be satisfied for a time without the strength of Christ. All it takes is a job promotion, a Christmas bonus, a healthy baby, a healthy tax return, a cloudless sky. But it takes a truly other-worldly might to carry your satisfaction with you—just like Paul—into seasons of shadow and aloneness and pain. That is something the world simply cannot do without the strength of Christ.
You probably have this Scripture verse filed away in your brain already, but don’t pull it up anymore when you feel like asking God for a million bucks or a miraculous home run. Instead, cling to these words—and to the weather-proof satisfaction of Christ—when you find yourself in the school of abasement. ◊
