Now I want you to
know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to
advance the gospel.
Paul wrote the words of the book of Philippians from a jail
cell, arrested for preaching the gospel of Christ. And though he is in chains
for merely speaking the Truth, he still maintains a positive tone towards the
gospel and remains steadfast to serving God. He acknowledges that the
unfortunate circumstances that he has found himself in are actually serving to
advance the gospel, as he has been able to share the gospel with his captors
and guards. His struggle, his unjustified persecution, his unwarranted
punishment are actually producing good fruit towards furthering God’s Kingdom.
In our own lives, we often bemoan the battles and struggles that we must
endure. We don’t like them and we look for their departure as soon as possible.
But have we ever stopped and wondered if perhaps our unpleasant circumstances
are actually, in some way, furthering God’s Kingdom? Have we ever thought that
maybe God is using our struggle to somehow feed the gospel message to other
people? In the midst of our battle, it can seem like a hard concept to even consider.
But much like Paul’s situation, God works in the midst of our battles. God uses
our everyday situations to further his mission for his people…the good moments
and the bad…the highs and the lows…all are opportunities where the Lord is
working to change the hearts and minds of those around us. So the next time we are in some type of
struggle, may we pause from our groaning and moaning and consider that perhaps God
is doing something significant with our circumstances. Perhaps God is using our
battle to speak his Truth into the lives of another, much like he did with
Paul. And at that moment, maybe we can see our troubling situation as somewhat
of a blessing…where God is speaking
light into an otherwise dark situation. What a gift it is to serve the Lord in
both the sun and the rain! To God alone be the glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment