The Apostle Paul said, "I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
And so the Apostle Paul, he went through really hard times where he was in jail, where he
was beaten, where he didn't have any food to eat, where he was shipwrecked out in the
ocean.
And he said, "I've learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
And so if we went through life and everything went well for us all the time, we wouldn't
learn how to be content.
We would be a spoiled brat.
We have to go through times of suffering and want and hunger to make us appreciate the
things that we have.
I remember when I went to Germany for three months when I was 18.
And in Germany there's no free refills at any restaurant that you go to.
I mean, can you imagine that?
No free refills.
And the drinks are tiny and the drinks are expensive.
And if you go to a restaurant, they actually give you, and only in Germany, but they give
you a little glass that is like a measuring cup, that has little lines on it.
So instead of just, you know, in America you just pour your glass of water, pour your glass
of Coca-Cola, whatever.
It has a little line that they fill it up to that says 0.5 liters or 0.2 liters.
And usually I could only afford the 0.2 liters, okay.
You know, as long as I really splurged and got the 0.5 liters.
I mean in America, 0.5 liters, that's about what, a pint?
That's like, okay, I'm ready for my refill now.
But I remember the first time I went to a restaurant in Germany, it was just like, all
right, refill.
And it's like, no, that's another $5.
Whoa, man.
The drink was like almost, seriously, if the food was 10 bucks, the drink would be like
5 bucks.
The drink was about half what the food would cost wherever you went.
And then I remember the people that I was staying with, they had bottles of carbonated
water, bottles of lemonade.
And you could tell that they kind of felt that I was drinking a little too much water.
They didn't say anything, oh you're already done with the water that we gave you, huh?
Oh, so you already drank that lemonade.
So you know, you started to get the message like, okay, I'm not supposed to be drinking
a lot of water.
You know, I'm used to growing up with just unlimited water, and they're like, don't drink
the tap water, it's poison.
Just drink this little measuring cup, oh man.
So then I remember just the whole time I was there, just three months of being thirsty.
And I remember I got back, and all I could think about was just drinking as much as I
want.
And I remember I got home, and I went to the grocery store, and I just bought like, a bottle
of apple juice, a bottle of orange juice, a bottle of soda, and I just went home, and
I'm just drinking and drinking, just, oh, it's so good.
And it made you appreciate something that you never appreciated before, you know.
And you didn't appreciate it, because you hadn't gone three months of drinking water.
Three months of never getting enough to drink.
And it was just so refreshing.
That's how life is.
You go through life just getting everything you want, it turns you into a bad person.
It turns you into a spoiled brat.
But when you go through periods of suffering and periods that are bad, it makes you enjoy
the good times.
So we need to just trust God and let him take us through some bad times.