Verse of the Day for June 29

Verse thirteen is often lifted out on its own and written on exam folders and football shirts. Read in place, it is about something quieter. Paul has just said I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound.

The all things he can do are mostly the things of a long life. Being full and being hungry. Having plenty and having nothing. I am instructed, he says, which means he learned it slowly, over years, through prisons and shipwrecks and seasons of plenty.

So I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me is first of all a sentence about contentment. Christ gives Paul strength to be the same man in a full season and an empty one.

Then verse fourteen adds a tender detail. Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. Paul has just said Christ is enough, and in the same breath he thanks the Philippians for helping him. Christ's strength did not make their gifts unnecessary. It often came through them.

On the long road you will have full months and lean ones. Learn what Paul learned, one season at a time. And when a friend sends help, receive it as part of how Christ strengthens you.

Contentment is something you learn over years, not something you feel in a moment.

Accepting help from others is not a failure to trust Christ.