Paul: An example of Resilience

"But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for 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." (Philippians 4:10‭-‬12 NASB1995)

According to Oxford languages resilience is: " the capacity of recovering quickly from difficulties; tough." Paul was a tough guy, no doubt. He used to be a persecutor of Christians. For sure you needed to be tough to be a persecutor. To do that arduous task was for sure no easy thing. But, the most impacting thing I see from the above passage is the expression " I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am". Wow, how do you do that? That's amazing! To be able get to that level of maturity I'm sure, requires a lot. And indeed, he went through a lot to get there. Notice, he "learned" to be content. He wasn't born with that ability. He had to learn it throughout his whole life. The word "learn" is the word manthánō in the Greek.  It's the root where the word disciple comes from. It means learning key facts; gaining fact-knowledge as someone learns from experience, often with the implication of reflection. In other words, Paul became a disciple of his  own life experiences in order for him to learn contentment through the living of such experiences. Any other way, he wouldn't have been able to learn contentment the proper way. What about contentment? What is that? Oxford languages defines it as: "a state of happiness and satisfaction" but the Biblical word gives us a more profound meaning. It's the word autárkēs which means "sufficiency within" and it only occurs in Phil 4:11 where it refers to positive self-sufficiency   or inward adequacy. Now, there has to be a background that would show us what type of situations Paul went through  and there is. 2 Corinthians gives us a very detailed summary about the different types of situations he was in. The text says: "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  (Corinthians 11:24‭-‬27 NASB1995). You would say: How much more can that guy take? Well, much more. He was beheaded by a Roman soldier for the cause of Christ.

Now, would you say Paul was a very resilient person? I would say very much so. He had the capacity and the ability to recover quickly from difficulties; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to push forward and accomplish the task that was given to him by Jesus Himself which was expanding His kingdom through the preaching of His gospel.  

Paul "has learned the secret" of overcoming obstacles or difficulties when they arise. It's not just the fact that he learned positive self sufficiency by going through all those different types of situations. That's the part you're required to do. It is the fact that He had a secret. That's the  part that depends on Somebody else. What was that secret that allowed Paul to go through all that and still be content? Well the famous words of a very well know verse in the Bible, Philippians 4:13, was that secret: "I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me". Paul's secret was Christ's strength. Christ was the base for his contentment because he knew his "help came from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:2). Do you want to be resilient? Submit to Christ, there's no other way. Sure, you can recover quickly from adversity without Him but, how much is your peace and contentment going to last? Probably not long because the real key to being resilient is to be dependent on Christ's strength when we are weak. “My grace is sufficient for you", Paul says "for power is perfected in weakness.” "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9‭-‬10 NASB1995).

We can all learn contentment and be resilient during our toughest moments in life but we have to be willing to "learn" it and that is learn it by experience. Do you want to be tough like Paul ? Learn toughness from Christ the toughest and manliest man who ever walked this earth. He was a true man's man. He never backed down against the Pharisees and their hipocricy. He called them a "brood of vipers". He responded with no hesitation to the question of Pontius Pilate: "are you a king?" and Jesus said: " you say correctly that I am a King". And probably the most resilient act of Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane when he said to His Father: " not my will but yours be done". Talk about recovering quickly from adversity! He asked his Father if it was possible "to pass that cup from Him". In other words, Jesus was asking  if there was any other way to  save this world, but He quickly remembered His mission and submitted to the will of His father. That is, dying on the Cross for the sins of this world.

Paul surely learned resilience through life situations, and that is a given, but his real secret was Christ Himself. He was his Rock. Are you willing to be taught by your own life experiences? Are you willing to let Christ be your strength? Only, and only then, you'll be able to learn resilience. There's no other way. May the Almighty God be your strength today. God bless you!