Saturday, May 1, 2021

Content Whether Full or Hungry


[1]

Philippians 4:12-13

Good News Translation

12 I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. 13 I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.

 

In 1986 we moved to California. The sale of our home in Massachusetts had fallen through, so we were still making house payments on it, and we were paying exorbitant rent on the house we were living in. We now had three kids in church school. I remember lamenting to the Lord, “Not again, Lord, please!” Then our house back east sold for approximately what we paid for our home in California.

A year after we were first married, I was as grad student, and Sylvia had a good job, but it fell through. We were able to borrow enough for me to finish school and move to Africa. Then our second year in Tanzania, the TAD made a big mistake in our salary, and we were with no money for six months. Things eased gradually until I went back to grad school with two kids. Then we had to go on food stamps for a couple years, but the Lord blessed, and we lived very well towards the end. In fact, we were living better than we had previously throughout our married life. Back in Africa double digit inflation and another bigger mistake by the TAD (Trans African Division that employed us) thrust us back into a hand-to-mouth existence. In spite of this, we have always had a roof over our heads and have never gone hungry.

We moved to Massachusetts, and I took a second job so we could afford to buy a house. In spite of my two jobs, our bank balance would drop to less than $10 at the end of most months. Still the Lord was good to us, and we were able to grow at least half of the food we ate for seven years. The old clunkers we drove kept right on clunking. Then in California I again took on a second job. God heard my lament, and things did improve—slowly but steadily until my retirement in 2013. I remember walking in the hills and praising God for the prosperity he had granted us. I also remember having a premonition that things would change. … Again.

Since then, West Nile virus, threatening blindness, and cancer take their toll. This miserable pandemic has cramped our style. It appears that we, as a nation, are facing serious inflation and possible national financial collapse. In spite of all this, I have a solid confidence to say with Paul, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me!”

Thank You, Lord, that everyone reading this blog has the very same promise that God will continue to look after them, too.

 


[1] https://line.17qq.com/articles/oohncpdov.html