This Word has been churning in my heart for a few days now.
I think of Elijah.
He was a great man of God, but when he was up, he was up, and when he was down, he was down.
Like to the point of death, down.
I just had a conversation the other day with a young girl who reminded me of the forgotten battle I had had with what they diagnosed as chemical depression.
Yes, it was real.
I’m not making light of that.
I’m sure they would have diagnosed Elijah to be a manic depressant.
But what I am saying, is that my stability was born in a stable, and died for the removal of all disease.
That’s the truth over facts!
Ask me how I know.
I’ve lived it.
So, as I’m pondering this thread of Truth, I open to this today, from Paul, whom I’m sure had every opportunity for depression to come and set back in, if not kept in check.
But he had learned of his stability founded and grounded in Jesus.
“Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances. I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need.”
Philippians 4:11-12 AMP
Learning to be content in all things, is simply rooted in The Provision of Jesus.
You know it’s coming.
You know it’s there.
You know whatever circumstances are, they are temporary.
Jesus is not.
He promised to never leave or forsake us, and that’s where the contentment comes in.
We rest, assured.
Returning, as I said a few days ago, to the sheer Joy of Our Salvation, brings us to a new level of thinking.
We simply take inventory of what we have in Him.
When we forget who and who’s we are, we run in fear or get depressed like Elijah.
The truth was, he had already defeated the enemy.
It was an epic call out on just how fragile and useless all of those other gods and fake prophets were.
Including the ones that Jezebel now swore by.
The battle wasn’t physical.
It was in his thinking.
He pondered her threats instead of pondering the Promises and power of God he had just witnessed.
That’s why it’s so important to go on the Truth even above experience.
Elijah had experienced the power.
He saw fire sop up water!
But that experience wasn’t enough to stabilize him.
Faith is where our stability lies.
Faith that came in a stable.
Jesus is our faith.
What He did, assures us of what we have.
Experience alone, didn’t even keep the disciples stable.
It was the Word Jesus had spoken that triggered their minds to believe He had risen.
Some said, “didn’t our hearts burn within us,” as they walked with Him.
The reality was, He was there, they just didn’t perceive it accurately.
But they didn’t stabilize until He spoke the Words they remembered He had said.
Again, it was the Word from God that stabilized Elijah.
God reminded him that he wasn’t indeed the only one.
He reminded him of the seven thousand that He had reserved.
He remembered, Oh Yeah… I talked to one of them not long ago.
Obadiah I believe, who had hid hundreds of prophets.
You don’t need your circumstances to line up for you to believe, you need a Word to believe, to speak to your circumstances!
You need a reminder of what God said!
Jesus is IN you, if you belong to Him.
The Word is already nigh you, even in your heart, Romans 10:9 says, and it’s in your mouth.
That’s how Salvation stabilizes us.
Thank you Father for everything that came through your Son.
We adore Him.
We’re content and sufficient in Him.
You’re a Good Good Father.
ThankFully Restored 