There are times and seasons in all of our lives. There are times of joy and times of sadness. There are times of gain and times of loss; times of prosperity and times of poverty. While the myth that some people are happy all the time or prosperous all the time seems to persist, it is still just a myth. All of us go through ups and downs in life. That’s part of what it means to be human.

This truth is reflected both in the Old and the New Testaments. Solomon expresses this poetically in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 which begins with these timeless words, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” This establishes the fact that a variety of circumstances will come our way. But how do we maintain our equilibrium in the midst of vacillating circumstances?

The apostle Paul answers this in the New Testament. While acknowledging the ups and downs of life, his perspective is much more encouraging. In Philippians 4:11-13 he says, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”  And then in verse 13 he tells us the secret to living this way. He says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

This is the secret, folks… finding our strength, not from the changing circumstances of life, but from the unchanging Lord of all, Jesus Christ Himself. As the writer of Hebrews affirms, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Many blessings and I’ll see you Sunday.

Pastor Calvin