March 23, 2005 Philippians 4:1-13

 March 23, 2005                                                                      Philippians 4:1-13

 

Philippians 4:12-13 “I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

 

When all the coverage of the tsunami and its devastation was with us day and night, we all felt extreme sorrow for the people who had lost family members, their homes, their fishing boats, everything.  I heard one minister from the area say, “It is difficult to convince people who have lost everything that God loves them.”  I have thought of that news clip over and over.

We discovered the “tsunami” at the Green House (Mr. Mitchell’s House behind the church – ed.) a few days after the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia.  Those of us who worked there for over a month felt extreme sadness that all our work was in vain.  But was it?

We had not lost all our family members.  We had not lost our comfortable, valuable home.  We had not lost our monthly paychecks.  We had not lost our means of making a living.  We had not lost our personal belonging and irreplaceable family mementos.  We had actually lost nothing more than a little of our time, some of which we fritter away watching mindless television shows anyway.  Actually we had lost nothing.

We had really gained something.  We spent time working with people we truly care about, other church members who were doing the Lord’s work together and having a pretty good time of it.  So we lost hours and days of labor, but personally we did not lose anything that we could not replace or even needed to replace.  We lost a house that no one was living in.  We lost a house that no one desperately needed to live in simply to have a place to keep a family together. 

It is easy for those of us living in Bowling Green, USA to live by the following scripture:

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed of hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Phil. 4:12

 

            Few of us reading this will find our selves in want or hungry.  The sentence that follows is the one we really should learn to live by, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” – Phil. 4:13

 

Dear Father, Help us to be aware of the sorrow and desperation of people around the world.  Help us to continue to share our wealth with those who have lost everything.  Help us appreciate living in a country that allows us to worship in the church of our choice on Sunday.  Help us each day to appreciate the bounty we enjoy.  Amen.

 

Contributed by Anna Nienhueser