November 12 Daily Devotional

Beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt
(Read Deuteronomy 6)

[Paul] was anxious to make the all-inclusiveness of his claim perfectly clear (Philippians 4:10–12).... He knows how to be abased, he knows how to be hungry and to suffer need; on the other hand he knows how to abound, how to be full and to have plenty. It would be interesting to discuss the relative difficulty of these two things. Which is the more difficult, to be abased or to abound without losing the contented mind? I do not know whether we can ever answer the question. They are both extremely difficult and one is as difficult as the other. Can I be abased without feeling a sense of grudge, or without being worried, or without being anxious? Can I suffer the need of food and clothing, can I be abased in my profession or office or work, can I somehow or another be put down and still remain in spirit exactly as I was before? What a difficult thing this is ... Paul... had experienced every kind of trial and tribulation and yet he is unaffected by them.

Then take the other side. I know how to abound’, says Paul, ‘I know how “to be full”, I know how to enjoy plenty.’ What a difficult thing this is. How difficult it is for the wealthy person not to feel complete independence of God.... Most of us remember Him when we are down ... but, when we have everything we need, how easy it is to forget God.... What Paul says is that in either of these positions he is perfectly free. Poverty does not get him down, riches do not carry him away and make him lose his hold. He says that he is not dependent upon either, that he is self-sufficient in this sense, that his life is not controlled by these things, that he is what he is apart from them. Whether he is ‘to abound’ or to ‘suffer need’ it does not matter.

Spiritual Depression, pp. 280–1