Tag: sufficient

The Classroom Nobody Asks To Enter

Brent Pollard

No one ever really wants to come to this school. They never looked at a promotional pamphlet about it. They didn’t circle the first day of school on their calendars with excitement. Yet, God keeps a watchful eye on this ancient classroom. Even after thousands of years, its curriculum hasn’t changed. One of the earliest lessons it teaches is want.

Attendance at this school would never be something we would choose. Left to our own devices, we would design a curriculum brimming with abundance: every prayer answered swiftly, every door welcoming us at the first knock. However, that is not a school; it is a nursery. God doesn’t want to coddle individuals who stay stuck in their growth (see Hebrews 5.11-14).

In the tough times we face, there’s a unique gentleness to be found: the pauses, the imperfections, and the obstacles, which resemble the desks in a classroom, representing our journeys. At these desks, we uncover unique insights that you won’t find anywhere else. Comfort allows us to see the blessings we receive from God, but difficulty is the teacher who helps us grasp our profound need for God Himself. When all comforts are stripped away, the only lesson that endures is the one learned at the desk of deprivation.

Paul’s Diploma from the School of Want

Paul didn’t simply earn his diploma from this “school of want” by focusing solely on theory. He earned it through real struggles: scars, shipwrecks, feelings of emptiness, and even time spent in a prison cell (see 2 Corinthians 11.23-28). From one such cell, he wrote, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4.11). The term “learned” carries weight and meaning. Finding contentment wasn’t a simple task; it required patience and nurturing, much like mastering a new language. Initially, it was a bit uncomfortable and uncertain, but over time, with patience and practice, it became more natural and easier for Paul. Paul’s journey shows how facing challenges can lead to genuine happiness.

This isn’t a blend of stoicism and faith. Stoicism dulls its desires; Paul acknowledges his. He expresses, “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 4.12). He experienced hunger. He experienced a deep sense of humiliation. He just wouldn’t allow either of them to have the last say over his spirit.

Then Paul shares a little secret, almost casually: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4.13). This line, situated between hunger and abundance, highlights that genuine strength comes not from ambition but from Christ’s support. Here, the “strength” isn’t about conquering the world; it’s about remaining authentic and steadfast as you journey through the tough lessons that accompany desire. The metaphor emphasizes a profound faith in God that transcends the world’s temporary victories.

This is the central idea that the message of contentment centers on. Contentment isn’t just about having all our wishes fulfilled; it’s about understanding that even when we face shortages, the goodness of God is always present and unwavering. Paul didn’t just experiment with this while among the safety of his brethren; he put it into practice in a Roman cell, and it really worked.

The Lie That Wealth Whispers

Examine Paul’s testimony alongside his warning to reveal a distinct difference. He shares with Timothy about those “who want to get rich” and who find themselves “in temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires” (1 Timothy 6.9). Money itself isn’t the enemy, but the obsession with it—the idea that adding another zero will somehow bring happiness—definitely is.

Wealth brings dreams that can sometimes feel just out of reach. It’s often said that security is something we accumulate, that we’re always just one transaction away from feeling safe. It’s the enduring charm of attraction, now presented in a portfolio instead of a serpent’s skin. The impact extends far beyond mere financial loss. Paul notes that some people have wandered away from their beliefs, chasing after them and bringing upon themselves “many griefs” (1 Timothy 6.10). You cannot devote yourself to a deity that does not reciprocate your affection.

This is the reason the well-known verse is positioned exactly where it is. It is supported on both sides by the reminder: “Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment” (1 Timothy 6.6). Seeking gain has always been a valid ambition. We simply searched for it in the wrong field. True gain isn’t about accumulating more possessions. It reflects the soul’s deepening ability to find peace in God, regardless of circumstances.

Christ, the Believer’s Undiminishable Portion

What should you do when a lesson feels like it’s holding on to you? What happens if the job doesn’t materialize, the diagnosis remains unchanged, and our prayers seem to fall silent? Even in those moments, remember that you are not alone—hope awaits you beyond the pain. Don’t force a smile and pretend that pain feels good. Scripture doesn’t make that request. Instead, look beyond your empty hand to the Hand that has always held on.

This is the gentle reassurance found in Scripture: God is the refuge for those who have nothing else. “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup,” the psalmist sang, long before Paul came along (Psalm 16.5). Not divine blessings. God Himself. God. Even without any blessings, the believer still possesses the one true Blessing.

There’s an incredible tenderness in this moment. A divine being, enveloped in radiant light, humbles themself to become the treasure for those who possess nothing. We were created, in the innermost part of our hearts, for nothing less than Him. Every desire He permits is an act of love, purging that space and making room for only Him to occupy it. It isn’t joy that we seek, but rather the joy that ultimately reveals itself—much like a famine that shows us that bread was never the true goal. He was the center of it all. He was always the center of attention.

Living in the Classroom Today

How do you handle a no in the moment of truth?

Begin with small steps. Communicate honestly and express your desires openly in the presence of God. Do not pretend to have the peace you do not possess. Rely on Philippians 4.13 not just for lofty ambitions but also to find strength when facing challenges. Keep in mind the lesson from 1 Timothy 6: the things you pursue often fall short of what they promise. Finally, return to the intended portion. Whisper it softly until it resonates within you, just as it did for Paul: Lord, I may not have what I desired, but I have You. That is not insignificant. It’s a huge gain.

No one actively seeks to enter this school, yet everyone finds themselves walking its halls and eventually graduating—some with a sense of bitterness, others with a feeling of blessing, some with clenched fists, and others with contented hearts. Christ stands as the enduring guide in this ongoing journey of desire, sharing the essential truth that mere comfort cannot provide: He is, and has always been, enough.

The Sin Of Self-Reliance

Carl Pollard

There’s a quiet danger that often hides beneath ambition, discipline, and hard work. It doesn’t look rebellious, and it doesn’t sound arrogant. In fact, it’s usually praised! That danger is self-reliance.

We live in a culture that celebrates independence. From childhood we are taught to stand on our own two feet, chase our goals, and depend on no one. Strength is admired. Neediness is frowned upon. The message taught is if you want something done right, do it yourself.

While responsibility and initiative are good qualities, they can quietly evolve into something spiritually destructive. Self-reliance becomes sinful when it replaces dependence on God.

Scripture consistently reminds us that human strength is limited. Proverbs 3:5 is a verse we have been teaching Rich and Amara to memorize. It is simple, but so important. Solomon warns, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” That command assumes something important, our understanding is not sufficient. We dont see the full picture. We are finite, while God is not.

The problem with self-reliance isn’t that we work hard. The problem is that we begin to believe our effort is the ultimate reason for our success! Prayer becomes optional, and our gratitude weakens. Decisions are made without seeking God’s wisdom. We may still attend worship and read Scripture, but practically speaking, we operate as if everything depends on us.

This mindset produces pressure. When life rests entirely on your shoulders, anxiety naturally follows. Every outcome feels personal. Every failure feels final. But Scripture paints a different picture of strength. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul writes that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Weakness isn’t something to hide, it is the doorway to dependence! 

Self-reliance can also damage relationships. When we refuse help, resist accountability, or struggle to admit fault, pride quietly takes root. Dependence on God cultivates humility. It reminds us that every breath, every opportunity, and every blessing ultimately comes from Him.

There is freedom in surrender. When we acknowledge our limitations and actively trust God, the weight shifts. We still work. We still plan. But we do so prayerfully, recognizing that outcomes belong to Him.

True strength isnt found in proving we can handle everything alone. It’s found in trusting the One who already holds everything together!

But Grow In Grace And Knowledge…

GUEST WRITER: Charlie Smith

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“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” – 2 Peter 3:18

Peter writes this letter knowing that he’s going to die soon (2 Peter 1:14), and he wants the church to remember his teachings after he’s gone (1:15). This illustrates how deeply invested Peter was in the church’s success:

  • He had been on the ground floor of Jesus’s ministry, literally walking off the job site, leaving everything behind, to become a fisher of men
  • He had seen the crucifixion, the empty tomb, and the pierced side of his resurrected savior
  • He had helped the church grow from 120 to untold thousands covering the entire known world in one generation

And now Peter realizes that he’s soon going to be gone and the church will not have the direct guidance of the apostles but instead will need their indirect guidance through the New Testament writings. What are the last words of this apostle, his final thoughts for the church that he loved so dearly, which continue to echo down to us today as the spiritual successors of those first-century Christians?

Always keep growing!

First, he asks us to grow in the grace of Christ. When we obey the gospel, our sins are completely forgiven; God forgets them; we are “saved to the uttermost,” according to Hebrews 7:25, and when we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins (1 John 1:7). So how can we grow in something that is complete?

I think a key is found in 2 Cor. 12:7-9. Paul has been given this thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment him, and he prays three times that the Lord will take it away. But God tells Paul that His grace is sufficient. It was enough that Paul was a Christian; Paul did not need any particular problem taken away; God’s grace sufficed.

Likewise, no matter what we face in this life, it really doesn’t matter if we’re a Christian.  God’s grace is enough. It takes effort and maturity, though, to gain this perspective. We need to keep growing in the grace of Christ!

Second, Peter asks us to grow in the knowledge of Christ. This is an easier interpretation: We must go to The Book! In my experience, and from what I’ve observed in others, those who grow as Christians are those who study the Bible on their own, digging in to see for themselves what God says. The preacher who baptized me told me one time that, in addition to his other study, he read a chapter a day from Proverbs and the gospels because he wanted to remain connected to the wisdom of God and the heart of Jesus; this is the attitude of someone who, know matter how much they know about the Bible, is still striving to grow in the knowledge of Christ.

May we all have this desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We’ve been blessed to have the Smiths at Lehman since last August. Charlie begins work as an economics professor at Freed-Hardeman next month. We’re so sad for us, but very happy for them. What a wonderful family!

“Self-Sufficient Study”

Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

Gary III

Gary Pollard

All gas internal combustion engines require three things to operate: fuel, spark, and compression. If one of the three is working improperly, a number of symptoms can arise. This is an oversimplification, of course, but those three systems must be mostly operable in order to be usable. 

Troubleshooting can be expensive if a person has little or no experience with this common engine type. Learning to maintain a vehicle and enact basic repairs saves an enormous amount of money! Relying on someone else to do it is often very costly. 

We fully understand that not everyone is equipped to be a scholar-level theologian. However, many Christians take this idea and swing the opposite direction. How many have been Christians for decades and have just a basic understanding of scripture? How many multi-generational Christians snore at the thought of advanced biblical studies? How many have only the knowledge they retain from a sermon? How many base their understanding and beliefs on the values held by respected friends or family? 

No one is perfect; the more a person learns through deep bible study, the more they are confronted with their own inadequacies. But a dedicated student of the scriptures also gains this: 

  1. A profound appreciation for grace and its role in our practical lives. 
  2. Mind-blowing discoveries and realizations about the nature of God and eternity that bullet-proof our faith. 
  3. The full emotional and intellectual impact of biblical principles. 
  4. A deeper understanding of the goals, message(s), meaning, and practical applications of a book. 
  5. A heartwarming and emotion-eliciting  appreciation for the role of The Word, Jesus, and His hand in creation, sustaining the genetic line that brought about His physical death, the timeless sacrifice He made by subjecting Himself eternally to the Father, and the role He plays today on our behalf.
  6. An ability to defend the faith, refute false doctrine, convert a lost soul, and build faith in others. 
  7. An ability to avoid sin more effectively. 
  8. A far lesser likelihood of accepting false doctrines or harmful practices.  
  9. Excitement, joy, and fulfillment about being a Christian! 
  10. A great disdain for arguments over petty issues that are weakening the church, and the ability to shut them down and refute them soundly. 

As a bonus, learning to read and translate Greek or Hebrew (at least with the help of a lexicon, a decent understanding of rules of each language, and their proper application in each context) will give even more profound insight into words and concepts we read in our native translations. 

Relying on what others tell us is not sufficient! We may find that the cost, eternally, is far steeper than what we would pay to the most expensive mechanic for repairs we could do at a fraction of the cost. Not only will we gain a great appreciation for what we know and live by becoming true Bible students, but it also greatly enhances our ability to live a faithful Christian life. 

 

HE QUALIFIED US

Neal Pollard

When I was a student at Faulkner University, Schick Corporation sponsored a three-on-three intramural basketball competition known as Super Hoops. The school’s student activity director organized the tournament, and the winning team won a paid trip to the national tournament to compete for the national title. My senior year, four of us decided to form a team and compete for this coveted prize. We had a guy, Patrick Hunter, who was a slick ball handler and had been a point guard in High School. We had another guy, Bart Carter, who had actually played baseball at Mississippi State before transferring to Faulkner to become a Bible Major. There was me, more of an outside shooting threat if anything. But it was our fourth man, Mike Whisenant, who truly tipped the scales in our favor. He was a High School basketball star and was our big man. He also had a great shot, but we could depend on him to score inside consistently. Every team could have four players and you could rotate in and out to keep players fresh. But the guy who had to stay in, our workhorse, was Mike. It was certainly a team effort, but it was Mike who carried us to victory at Faulkner and punched our ticket to Atlanta. We got to stay at a very nice Hyatt hotel for free. We got meal vouchers, cool T-shirts, and I didn’t buy a razor for a couple of years. Although our glory was short-lived on the “national stage,” getting beat by Morehouse and then Valdosta State in a double-elimination format, we got to compete—thanks mostly to Mike’s skillset and abilities.

Perhaps that’s a crude way to illustrate a term used by Paul in Colossians 1:12, but follow me for a moment. Paul is in the middle of his prayer for the Colossians, telling them he wanted them (and by extension he wants us) to please God in all respects. The four ways to do that follow that imperative: bearing fruit, increasing in knowledge, being strengthened, and giving thanks. Paul says to give thanks to the Father, “who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” The word translated “qualified” here is only found one other time, in 2 Corinthians 3:6, where Paul says “our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant.” The same idea is conveyed in both passages.

Though I could not find the Greeks using this verb in an athletic sense, it literally means “to cause someone or something to be adequate for something” (Louw-Nida 678). The adverb form of the word appears many times in the New Testament, and means “sufficient in degree, sufficient, adequate, large enough” (Arndt, Danker, et al 472). Our word means to “render competent or worthy” (Zodhiates np). God is the cause of adequacy, the One who makes us competent and worthy to receive the inheritance. We have a part to play. We must be obedient, fruitful, knowledgeable, strong, and thankful. Without this proper response to God’s grace, we do not qualify for the prize. But, who is most responsible? Who do we most depend upon? It’s not us. It’s Him!

My illustration is feeble, but it helps give me a faint glimpse of what Paul is talking about. In an infinitely greater way, I owe my eventual, eternal prize to God’s ability and identity. But, because I want to please Him in all respects, I am going to work hard and with gratitude for the One who makes it all possible.

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Coping With Thorns

Neal Pollard

Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). He is the author of audacity, and he showed it first in Eden. He is at work today through temptation and suffering to try and dismantle our faith. He is a presence in our personal lives (1 Pet. 5:8). If there’s hurt, he’s happy. If there’s sin, he’s satisfied. He can’t force anyone to sin (Js. 1:13-15). He can’t make us fall away (John 10:28-29). But, he’s at work. Paul writes about something that has long mystified the Bible student, in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. In that passage, we have:

  • The reality of the thorn (7)
  • The reproach of the thorn (7)
  • The reason for the thorn (7)
  • The result of the thorn (7)
  • The response to the thorn (8-10).

Paul reveals Satan’s involvement in that thorn. This troubles me. I have never asked for a thorn in the flesh and I have no reason to think Paul asked for his, but he got one anyway. What do you do when you have a thorn in the flesh? Consider at least three things Paul teaches us in this powerful passage.

No one is immune from thorns. Who’s talking in this text? The great apostle Paul, a man God gave revelations, who’s preaching across the world, converting so many, and achieving name recognition for the best of reasons. If you ever thought anybody would be sheltered for doing right, it would be him. But Paul says there was given to him a thorn in the flesh. That makes me uncomfortable. I need spiritual lessons about God and myself, as Paul and even Job, who Satan was allowed to buffet, did. If a great Old Testament patriarch and great New Testament preacher had thorns to deal with, I know I am not immune.

Sometimes, God lets the thorn stay. We may have to accept that our given affliction may never come to an end as long as we’re on this earth. A recurring or chronic illness, constant adversary, or irreversible limitation may not be removed. I wish I knew why God told Paul “no” and why he sometimes tells us “no” when we ask for our thorns to be removed. But, even if we keep the thorn, God’s grace is sufficient and He can use that very thing to accomplish good through us for the Kingdom. God uses thorns to supply us with humility and grace. If our thorn comes and stays rather than comes and goes, God will use it for our good and to accomplish good if we will properly view it.

Thorns are growth opportunities. If we remain faithful to God through our thorns, we will spiritually grow. Satan is rebuffed and defeated, as he was with Paul and Job. But, for every Paul and Job, how many have let affliction and adversity destroy their faith? We know God’s power eclipses Satan’s. But don’t underestimate this enemy (2 Cor. 2:11; 11:14; 12:7). One of Paul’s final points in the letter is about God’s great power (13:4). Paul was weakened by affliction, but he could endure because of faith. God is more powerful than Satan and Paul’s thorn is but one proof of it. Lyte wrote,

As woods, when shaken by the breeze, take deeper, firmer root,
As winter’s frosts but make the trees abound in summer fruit;
So every Heaven-sent pang and throe that Christian firmness tries,
But nerves us for our work below, and forms us for the skies.

Is it a trial or a blessing in disguise? Doesn’t it depend on how we view it and what we do with it? Satan wants to use afflictions to destroy us, but God is greater. He can transform our tragedies into triumphs. Trust Him through the thorns. The roses will appear!

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