I am on vacation this week and so am sharing an edited older post today …

Secrets.

If we are honest, we all love secrets.

We love to tell one. We love to hear one.

There is always an element of mystery that surrounds knowing a secret. Something about it makes a person feel…. well…… better for knowing it. Perhaps that is why I loved learning a secret this morning. I will share it ……..

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”Â  (Philippians 4:12-13 NIV).

There it is ”“ the secret.

Let me be honest ”“ I haven’t always lived up to the standard of this secret. I have not always been content in any and every situation. There are some situations that I have lived through and flat out grumbled my way right through them to the end. Some I wasn’t grateful for until I saw the fruit of WHY I had to go through them.

Yet in this passage, if I am understanding Paul correctly, he is saying that this is the secret, the key to facing every situation. That secret is ”“ I need to accept it. Accept that what I am going through has purpose in my life beyond what I can understand, see or accept at the moment. He isn’t saying that I have to like it (Whew, as I would have blown it right there!) but just accept it.

As Paul lived his life in union with Jesus so he was given the necessary strength to cope with the constant pressures which assaulted him.
(Key Word Commentary by Mark Walter, Page 1113)

Therein lies the key…..

Acceptance ””””> the necessary strength to cope

Today may I take this key, this coping mechanism if you would, and find strength to face every situation. The question I am asking today is…..

Am I allowing each situation to shape me and build His character in me?

May we use the key and unlock the secret!

Today I am joining … Tuesday at Ten .