“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”
Philippians 1:12-14 NLT
It is easy to forget, due to the emphasis on joy in Philippians, the it’s context is one of suffering. Paul wasn’t merely writing a treatise for mental ascent, bust instead admonishment from relational knowledge. He understood what it meant to be in chains for Christ and he wanted to encourage the church at Philippi that this was not insurmountable with God. Here Paul elucidates what many want to forget. God’s prowess for weaving blessings goes beyond any cage that men can try to box him into. Indeed, it only intensifies the level of witness that one can achieve when they maintain the correct perspective on it. The true prison is that which instructs Christians that God cannot work in our suffering. This often leads sincere believers to suffer poorly. Their suffering becomes a confirmation of the bias under which they were persecuted. God’s gospel is seen as weak. Yet, because Christ suffered well, we are to do the same. Christ did it from the cross. He kept his character intact and served as the beacon of salvation for all. Paul was doing it from prison and subsequently became a force for God, even in chains. If we can’t suffer well in the small things, we certainly will have a hard time suffering well in the times that matter.
JOSH McGARY. COM 