Scripture: Philippians 1:12-14
Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the things that have happened to me have actually advanced the gospel. The whole Praetorian Guard and everyone else knows that I’m in prison for Christ. Most of the brothers and sisters have had more confidence through the Lord to speak the word boldly and bravely because of my jail time.
Thought for the Day: As has been stated recently in some other devotionals, Paul was writing from prison (a jail cell). Scholars debate which imprisonment, though I tend to believe it was Rome (his last before his death). If that’s the case, this letter would have been written around 60 or 61AD. Paul referenced the “Praetorian Guard,” an elite military group within the Roman army. These soldiers knew who Paul was and, we can only guess because of his passionate preaching, they also knew who Christ was. These kinds of stories raise a very important and often challenging question, a question about how God works in the world. Did God “cause” Paul to be imprisoned as part of a larger plan, and if so, what does that say about God’s relationship to human suffering? Or did Paul’s preaching have repercussions, including causing discomfort among the authorities. Paul was arrested, but God was able to use him in that situation. How we answer that question has some pretty dramatic implications in regard to our understanding of God – both theoretical and practical. If you believe God “caused” that to happen, then you will have a very different understanding when you are sitting with your doctor and you receive some bad news. If you believe certain things just happen, maybe because of our choices or maybe just because there is disease and suffering in this world, but God can use us amidst those experiences, then you will have a different response. So often I have had someone say, “Oh, it’s just semantics.” That is usually said by someone who has never sat in the doctor’s office and received bad news. It is never said by someone who find him/herself in prison or persecuted for simply sharing love. If you can’t guess, I am one that believes that God is never the cause of our suffering and pain, but is the One who can bring true ministry from our misery.
Prayer: You are love, O Lord, and you love me beyond measure. No matter what life and the world throw at me, I pray that your love will be a source of encouragement and a means by which I find value and purpose. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the one who showed this love so clearly. Amen.
