12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians2:12-14
Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. It would be easy for Paul to be down in the dumps and miserable, but instead we find that he is upbeat and positive. Paul could have chosen a number of emotions:
- Depression: After my faithful service, look what God does to me!
- Anger: This is just not fair! How could God drop me like this?
- Martyr complex: Woe is me, look at how bad my situation is!
- Resentment: Is this how God rewards those who are faithful?
or
- Faith: I still believe God is still in control and still at work
Fortunately Paul chose to go with the last option - trusting God and choosing to see how God could work through the situation.
There are a number of aspects to Paul's positive attitude:
1. Paul focussed on the spread of the gospel and not on his personal comfort.
2. Paul understood that bad things happen. He does not blame God or try to figure out what he had done wrong.
3. He saw the positive outcomes of his situation.
Paul himself had written those amazing words in Romans 8:28 ("And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.") We know that Paul believed that God could turn negative situations around and here we see Paul putting that belief into practice:
Firstly he realised his imprisonment was an opportunity to spread the gospel - every guard who was assigned to Paul heard the gospel and so it permeated the palace guard. And secondly he saw that because people could no longer rely on him to do the work, many had begun to take responsibility to do God's work.
We can be problem-centred of opportunity-centred.
Which will you choose?
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
