Do You Know the Secret?

I can do everything through
him who gives me strength.
     —Philippians 4:13

Do you know the secret?

Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Can you jot “Me too” next to that sentence?

If not, it’s probably because you don’t know the secret—“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (Phil. 4:12).

That secret has nothing to do with possessions, for Paul said he was content with a lot or a little.

So what is the secret? He lets you in on it in the next verse: “Christ gives me the strength to face anything” (Phil. 4:13 CEV). Paul had learned that with Christ in his life every problem was bearable.

That’s a secret worth knowing, because no matter how many things go right, you will never find contentment without him—and no matter how many things go wrong, you will always find contentment with him.

The world works from the outside in.
Christ works from the inside out.