I read through chapter one, about joy in the hard times and I'm thinking to myself. This is golden. I get to chapter two and things quickly went a different course. I kept reading and decided that it wouldn't be about specifically about joy, it would be about Philippians. Without dragging on an introduction to long, here is part one of a four part series (Insert giggles here.) on Philippians.
Here we see Paul in jail. What a great place to talk about peace in the midst of struggle. Jail. Paul flips the tables on his situation. He looks at it as though what he is going through is just adding to his testimony. Because this man would not back down on speaking out the word of God. We see in verse 12 Pauls heart.
"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel."
Man. What a statement. Our main man Paul is locked in chains and still keeping his spirits up. Still looking at the positive. Here we see a man who in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES saying that it is okay, because the word of God will be advanced because of it. I want to think that in all my situations, even though it is hard. If we jump down to verse 18, we see an important support system that Paul has.
"Yes, I will continue to rejoice! for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance."
Paul, continuing to choose joy, knows that he has people praying for him. This is why being a part of a church family is so important. Each person in your church has a different gifting. But there are people who pray without ceasing. When something is going on, you know you can call them and ask for prayer. Even if the situation doesn't change instantly, you know that God is on your side. You know people are praying for you. And that gives you peace. Jump down to verse 20.
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death."
Paul is looking futuristically here. No matter what, I won't be ashamed of what is happening now but I'll have courage to continue what God has asked of me, no matter what. He takes it to the extreme, life or death. Think about it, Paul gets out of jail and is so happy for the joy of the Lord was his strength and he contained his composure He exited jail and didn't know what was next. This man loved Jesus so much that he was willing to be killed for the cause of Christ. I know that we say that a lot, but this man REALLY lived it out.
He tells us in verse 27 that no matter what happens that we should conduct ourselves worthy of the Gospel of Christ. He didn't want people to only be Christian when he was around. He wanted it to stick. He wanted everyone to be a part of one body and stand firm in it. The church is doing a terrible job of this today. We spend so much time fighting against each other, its no wonder Christianity has such a bad name. I'll leave that at that and won't dabble to much there.
We are going to go through tough stuff. We are going to go through crappy times. It is what it is. If it was easy, we would get saved and go home to be with Jesus. verse 29 has the phrase "but also to suffer for him." I mean, the man did take on all our sin and died a terrible death. This is what I hold onto though. Verse 6.
"Being confident of this, that he who behave a good work in you will carry it on to complete until the day of Christ Jesus."
Even though you may be suffering right now, or going through something that seems like hell. Be confident in this, that Christ isn't done with you yet. There is a reason for it. And yes, it sucks. But know that God is with you. He's in your corner cheering you on. There is no reason that you can't hang on just a little bit longer. Listen, people are going to be mad at you. People are going to say things about you that aren't true. You are going to encounter some life altering/shaking thing about someone you care deeply for. These are realities. It's all in how we respond.
We have a choice. We can choose to be joyful and think, what is God teaching me. Or we can shrivel up. I recently told a good friend of mine some harsh words.
"People can be mad/offended, and if they are. They can take that up with God. Because if you are in God's will and doing what God is asking of you, then what does they matter. You have to be obedient to God and not your flesh."
Paul was that way. He did what GOD said, not what man said. And I think we would be a lot better off if we would do that too. Be joyful in our sufferings. Obedient to God's direction. And work together for the greater good. But that's just me.
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