THERE IS A SECRET TO KNOW

Sunday: October 11, 2020

Philippians 4:12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

To become an expert, one must zone in on a particular aspect of an endeavour. As far as I know, no one is an expert in all things. Yet, much like in choosing a medical specialty or a research area for a doctorate, there has to be real interest in becoming an expert in the field. Paul presents two fields to us: the field of ‘having everything’ and the field of ‘having little’. If either of these areas were available for selection, very few, if any, will opt for the latter.

Yet, it isn’t these two fields that Saint Paul highlights in the literal sense, his focus “I have balance such that I can navigate through either situation”.

Beloved, it is rare for life to be entirely skewed in a particular direction, we may consider it the work of extreme favour that all elements of an individual’s life exist in perfect equilibrium or harmony. We often see with a great spiritual life, family life suffers. With a great social life, academics are affected and with a great academic and working life, people become socially alienated.

Without the real effort to keep all the individual elements of our multifaceted life in balance, our pivots tip towards those sides to which we have accorded the most attention. This leaves other areas in dire need of massive interventions and very costly makeovers. “I have learned the secret of having both abundance and suffering need” – those are the words of Paul giving us a heads up that a balanced life does not come on a silver platter. You have to work at it.

#sly