Philippians 4:11-12 — Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

This looks like being one of those interesting travel days! Four hours sleep was not a great start.
Then a voicemail telling me my Frankfurt flight is delayed, meaning I won’t catch my Philadelphia to Fort Myers connection.
My taxi was early and we “flew” along at more than 100mph, so I was early at the airport.
My bags are checked through to fort Myers, but I don’t have a boarding card, Philly to Fort Myers.
I was the only person in the security line. Through in a twinkle of an eye.
It seemed almost symbolic. The weather, for the first time this week, turned ugly. Strong winds and nasty rain as we left Leipzig on time.
At Frankfurt, and the expected blow falls. “We can’t get you to Fort Myers today.” I was expecting that, knowing I had no boarding card for the tenth and last flight in a very long week. “We’ve booked you a hotel in Philadelphia, and your on a 7:55 am flight to Fort Myers tomorrow.” “Ha! OK. Let’s see you rejoice now!”
Perhaps the toughest moment of the day is calling my sweet Myra to tell her I won’t make it home until tomorrow. We both know that God’s in charge and He knows, and in some sense even shares our disappointment, but we’re still sad.
Is this pattern familiar to you? The highs and lows of circumstances swirling around you, lifting you up and casting you down, even in a single day?
It’s a common thread for me. it runs through all my days. I might even have written about it in a devotion before. Certain themes recur in my thinking and meditation, especially as I see them recur in Scripture.
Job said “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”
In Jeremiah we find “For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.”
Then of course there’s Paul. Can I be honest? Sometimes I can be a little irritated by Paul. His catalog of near-death experiences, this declaration of his ability to deal with the highs and lows of circumstances. Honestly, on a bad day when I’m more in the flesh than in the spirit, I can find Paul a bit much. But on my better days, I know that he’s right. What does the next verse say? “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” How often that verse is taken out of context. It does not say “Jesus makes me a superman”! I believe it really says “If I trust Jesus, I can deal just as well with the low points as I can with the high points. And that’s the strength I’m trying to call on today.