All my distress is going, going gone...pressing on, pressing on.

For as far back as I can remember, I have heard certain scriptures over and over and over. They are pummeled into my brain because they are key verses that we should always remember. I can agree with that but one thing I have noticed by reading the Bible in length is that I need to take things into consideration in regards to these verses. Do you ever question why that was written and what was the situation the people who received this message were in?

One verse that comes to mind is a simple one: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Now before I continue, I must preface by saying I have been under a lot of stress mainly because of the start of school. It has been an entire week for me to even log into this blog and that is uncommon. So, I say that to let you know how tired and stressed I am these days. Back to my point, that verse has been taught to me ever since I was little and was always used as an analogy in sports (which I hate, not everything in life can be paralleled by sports. I'll save that for another time...). This verse has simply been an encouragement, yet tonight as I was reading through Philippians it hit me with so much more. It is the verses that come before this one. After reading these verses, I gained an entirely new perspective on Phil. 4:13. In the previous verses, Paul says this, starting in the second part of verse 11: "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to have 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." Then we come to verse 13, again: "I can go all things through Christ who gives me strength." And one more point to make that really gives this verse its validity, to show that Paul isn't just saying this to say it: He is in prison.

He is speaking from a jail cell, where he has nothing. Alas, he has found contentment how? Because he knows he can do all things through Christ. Honestly, this past week I have felt like jello. Inside and out. I have been beaten physically and in turn, I have been too tired to spend time with God. Yet here is a man who has been literally beaten and thrown in jail and not for the first time, yet he still recognizes God. And all this has happened because of God. And does he back down and subdue his teachings and writings? NO! He has found hope in God. He is positive that God will deliver him.

One thing that I struggle with is fully depending on God. Paul, here in prison, amazes me. He has been doing the will of this God, yet in turn he is punished. He endures suffering for the one who has allowed him to be beaten. But Paul was always so joyful. He had risen completely above things of this world and had found this serenity in God. If only I could develop a faith to where I am numb to the world. So many instances in the text where Paul simply shrugs off the bad things of the world that happen to him. He knows that they are not of God. God allows them to happen, but in no way are they of God and because of this he has no worry. The things of God are good and it is on these things that he dwells, completely. Staying in Philippians, going to chapter 3, verse 8: "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ..." Wow. Paul is so in tune with that is that Christ came to show us. Things of this world, bad and good DO NOT MATTER. They can be beneficial, but they themselves are of no value to us. Paul tries to tell us this, yet sometimes we fail to realize the place or position he speaks from. He is basically living a life of ridicule and persecution, yet remains strong in his faith. I have a test in a few days and I simply buckle... I truly thank God for Paul, who has emerged as my favorite figure in the Bible, apart from Christ himself. The way God uses him to speak to these people of these cities...how amazing to have someone ministering to you like that. I guess I am just caught up in this book, but the fact that Paul was in prison and the way that he writes simply brings me to me knees. How can I have that faith? What steps can I take to want to live that life of worship to Him? It's simple, really. Press on. Press on toward the goal by way of faith in Christ.

I guess it would be fitting to close with more of Paul's words in Philippians, from chapter 3, verse 12: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."