Trust In The Blesser Not The Blessing

Philippians 4:12 " I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need".


We often think of the unique challenges and opportunities we face when we lack or stand in need. In those situations we are faced with the choice of trusting God for provision, or grumbling as the  children of Israel did in the wilderness. But we often over look the pitfalls that can lie in prosperity. There are some hidden dangers that await us when prosperity becomes the desire of our hearts.Our hearts can become so attached to things neglect God.  It is this very danger that Jesus warned of when he said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

We think that Satan is most dangerous when we are in need, but he is just as dangerous (if not more) when we stand in abundance. We tend to let our guards down when we stand in abundance. Suffering tends to sharpen our spiritual senses, driving us to realize our need and dependence on God. But when things are going well it becomes easy to put our lives on cruise control and start to doze off at the wheel. But prosperity does not change the fact that our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. We also can begin to put our trust in the blessings and forgo the one who has blessed us, and think  that our prosperity is the result of our godliness. Abundance can sometimes make it hard  for us to place our trust in God, because of the false since of security that lies in their prosperity. God does tend to bring blessing to those who are obedient, but even in those cases it is a gift of his grace since the very obedience in view is a product of God’s own work in that person’s life.

In our text here, Paul claims he has learned the secret of contentment in either lack or abundance. That secret is knowing that our security rests not in our current financial situation but in the one who loved us and gave himself for us. No matter what your economic situation is today, whether  rosy or bleak, God wants us to find our security in him. Beware the dangers of both being in need and of having abundance.