In this we rest.
Posted by appolus on October 9, 2019
Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
This verse is one of the high water marks of our walk with the Lord. Paul says that he had “learned,” to be content no matter what situation he found himself in. This learning did not come from his studies at the feet of human teachers. This learning came from having experienced everything that life had to throw at him, or better stated, everything that he had to suffer for the cause of Christ. Whether it was being hungry or without proper clothing, having a lot of money or having no money at all, Paul had learned. Whether he was popular or whether he was rejected, he had learned. When he was shipwrecked and adrift in the sea, he had learned. Whether he had the skin torn from his back or stoned to within an inch of his life, he had learned. Whether he was a free man in this world or whether he found himself at the bottom of a dungeon, he had learned.
What had he learned? What had a multitude of afflictions taught him? He has learned, however slowly or speedily, God knows, that His Lord and Savior was always with him and would take him through. When you can look back at your own life and see what the Lord has brought you through, how He walked with you through a multitude of trials and afflictions, you should “know.” Can you imagine how different the Israelites experience in the desert would have been if they had “learned,” to trust in God by looking back and seeing what He had brought them through and the power of that learning would have carried them forward in power and love and a sound mind.
One has to desire to learn. It is a deliberate act of the will to trust in the Lord your God and here is the best part, He will help you to trust Him and to be content. Simply look back. Look back and see where He has brought you from. See what He has delivered you from. See how He has provided for you. Looking back is very rarely healthy, consider Lot’s wife who by looking back was holding on to something that the Lord was delivering her from. Looking back for the Israelites was for the most part not healthy for they were looking back at Egypt and rather than trust in a God who delivers, they longed to have the security of their bondage. At least as slaves they knew what tomorrow would bring. The looking back that is healthy is when we deliberately bring to mind the God of our salvation and His great deliverance of our souls.
The old children’s chorus “count your blessings,” says “count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Indeed, there is power in this kind of reflection, this kind of looking back. This contentment that Paul had learned (aren’t you glad he uses the word learned) is learned not in a classroom nor by anointed preachers, this contentment comes by walking through the fires and passing through the waters with Jesus. If we can learn to rejoice when our teachers are the bread of afflictions and the waters of adversity then we can say with Paul that we have learned to be content in every situation. Bread and water is the diet of prisoners, it is designed to barely keep them alive. Yet our life comes not from bread alone but from every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. A word from God is life to us. Water is the most basic need of man, but we drink from the eternal wells of living water that flow from heaven above.
Therefore, even in chains and in the most dire of situations, we have bread from heaven and the living waters of life to revive our soul which causes us to rejoice in the Lord our God just like Paul and Silas in the dungeon. Paul could be content in every situation because he had learned, by actual experience, that God was with him in every situation. Dear saint, He is with you, and in this we rest.
A Call To The Remnant 
Duncan Pate said
Brother….Wow!!!!!
If Id write to you before it would have been too soon. The posts you put up on the net have been an encouragement and its as if we love you here in sunny Capetown as our dearest brother so so close to our heart brother. The words are so at hand here in Capetown and I can tell you every-time my wife picks up your post and reads it to me…… the nearness to exact in what we are facing is uncanny. (Same Spirit)
Jules and I were born again 19 years ago and such a testimony to our Lord… She comes from near Motherwell and I ..Edinburgh.. A life of abuse to say the least and in a flash with never a church in sight both of us were born again. Well with such a radical testimony of instant deliverance from all the darkness you can imagine …We were prematurely put into ministry and lifted up as leaders….of course ..still in nappies with a dummy in our mouths….. and so quick to teach..were soon in Pastoral ministry at a Calvary Chapel denomination…. cut a long story short I was fired….And dismayed in tatters with no real direction …but He was very near to us and we knew it. I started a small business to wash peoples bins…I think you call it dumpsters there in the States or wheelie bins. From a corporate ranked manager earning a small fortune to a pastor with many ministries to now a Bin cleaner and on the streets smelling bad…..Could the Lord have got this all wrong?….. I was the laughing stalk of all the Denominations that knew of my demise. But He was there brother!!!!. I did this with my own hands for twelve years..(Tent making)…..Testimony after another and the Gospel went out…. Denial of self being the foundation of His great love and He remains faithful to continue stripping and adding.
I think I was prompted to write to you just to let you know you are not alone brother!! You wrote about four to five days ago about the last days and Its word for word for what I would of wrote….so exact to a writing of mine that I know we are of One Spirit.
I sold my Bin cleaning business two years back with the exception of one contract which He has kept my provision daily on…He is the Provider..However since that day two years back I have been in a waiting/refinement and always thought this waiting would end with a great sending to churches for a prophetic Word of correctness…..rebuke for a repentant manifestation and along the way I Ishmael-ed it by trying to enter in!!!….. but the bouncers were on to me and physically thrust me out….a bit dismayed but again the Lord spoke and said wait….The hardest thing for any born again Son is to wait…..We are such doers..More crushing for our own good ..The beauty of refinement through trials…suffering…any way brother I will ask you to pray for us here in Cape Town … We are a community within the city and live together ……about fiftyish in number and meet daily breaking bread. We live on a piece of land with some homes built for the brethren and the workings are numerous to His Glory….I see why He intended the Living with daily….It all comes out it in the Light.
Lately ..yesterday in fact the Lord whispered a sending that was not really a thought to me but it seemed almost…. to on the narrow road ..Id miss it easily for it came in the shadows of gloom, but I’m laying it up in prayer and for the body to confirm the sending…..Pray for me brother. You are in our prayers
Brother keep up the going on in the Lord…..I have a Word which I would love to share some time…. if the Lord allows it I would love to pass it on to you…
Love you brother
Duncan & Jules In Christ
appolus said
Hey Duncan and Jules, what a delight to hear from you guys! That is a terrific testimony! Did you know that I come from Greenock in Scotland? Left in 1990 at the age of 25, my wife and I and my youngest son, and we came to Kansas. I go back every few years. I got saved in 1991 and we all went back for a year in 1995 to share the Gospel. Mum and dad and brother are still there. Looks like we may have had similar backgrounds and deliverences, praise God. I was excited to hear about your community there in Capetown. I know quite a few Calvary Chapel guys, ministered with a brother from there in Wales a few years back, David Guzik, I think he is in Santa Barbara now. Thank you for letting me know I am not alone, I actually have an amazing network of brothers and sisters all over, it is exciting to be part of the wider Body of Christ. I was the prayer coordinator for a national prayer call for a few years and then involved with some revival ministries for a number of years. We had revival conferences all over, had one in my home town of Greenock which was incredible, mostly for meeting other saints who have come out from the established church. We actually had one on Lougher, in Moriah chapel which is where the Welsh revival began. Sad to see the state on Christianity in Britain now and Wales. I would love to visit you guys one of these days, your community sounds intriguing. Please pass your word along Duncan, I would love to read it. God bless you guys…………………bro Frank
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