October 3: Of Kipling and Paul

Jeremiah 1:1-2:30

Philippians 4:1-23

Psalm 75:1-10

Proverbs 24:17-20

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if---

Rejoice in the Lord always,  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  - Philippians 4:4-7

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  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 all this through Him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:10-13

Yesterday I learned about Heather Dorniden and her amazing victory through persistence.  Got to see the end of the story, and it was great.  But the problem isn't the end of the story, is it?  It's when we are deep in the battle, when we feel like we are losing, and it seems we have no more to give.  How are we to respond?  And why?

Of all the poetry I've read, I keep coming back to Kipling's "If" (see link above).  I aspire to (and still fall so very short of) so much of what it describes.  But as good as the poem is, it falls short in two areas.  It gives us neither enough of a why, or a how.  Because when things get really rough, and we are on the verge of falling short, trusting ourselves seems like the least effective thing we could do. So where to go?

Paul picks up where Kipling leaves off.  The how we are to respond is to rejoice - and not because we are strong enough to do so, but because He gives us the strength to respond that way.  The why is because, as Paul said, knowing God is in control we can trust that in times of plenty and times of need, in times of joy and pain, health and hurt, hardship and comfort - in all these times the God who loves us is in control.  

Father, when we struggle, give us the strength we need to endure and survive the circumstances You, in Your perfect love, have chosen for us to undergo.  And through it all, give us joy in the knowledge that all this is because of Your love for us.