Read Philippians 1:13-20
“…It has become clear throughout the whole palace guard …that I am in chains for Christ.” v13
Some Thoughts…
Paul could have just sat there, doing nothing, waiting for his trial. He could have sulked and blamed God for his misfortune and all the injustice…but he couldn’t! He was a man on assignment: The defense of the gospel. (v16) He could have added to the moans and groans that came down the praetorian; a sound those guards were very familiar with. He could have turned to self-pity and missed the opportunity of a lifetime. But instead, he looked into the eyes of his captures and saw lives in more spiritual bondage than his physical chains that chafed his wrists could have ever been… So he continued on the mission that Christ had called him to.
He saw his chains as one more liberating step, one more chapter, in the story that God had written for him. So, he refused despair and exploded with joy, peace, and love to the point that it became known to everyone in the prison block as well as to the believers in Rome that Jesus saves! It even encouraged boldness in the witness of those on the outside looking in! I find this quote, as I read this morning that pushes me from self-pity to service for my King: A young believer complained of his circumstance to an older seasoned servant of God and the older said: “No moment will ever again be like this, let there be something for Jesus in it.”
A Prayer…
Father, let today be filled with something for You. May Your Kingdom be forwarded by my actions and attitudes today. Help me to see my “setbacks” as your assignments for me to defend the gospel by the way I live. Make me an obedient servant ready at all times, focused on You and Your calling, not on me and my failings. In the name of Christ I pray. Amen.