by Lemuel Niere
“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear” Philippians 1:12-14 NASB.
The above passage reminds us that God can use even the difficult things that happen to us to draw us close to Him. Philippians is a letter written by Paul while he was in prison. Paul’s life was certainly not going the way he had planned when he found himself alone in a prison cell. Yet, in Philippians 1:4-6 he wrote, “I always pray with joy… being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”
You may not be in a physical prison, but we can’t ignore the fact that some of us may be chained, say for example, to some secret addiction; trapped in dark depression; or feeling the weight of many past mistakes.
Your circumstances may not look good today. (They certainly weren’t for Paul!) Yet we can have joy and confidence knowing if it’s not good, God’s not done. Not only is God not done with you, He wants to use the very circumstances you are struggling through today. The trials of life will always be overcome by God’s grace when we let God into our lives and not control it all by ourselves. Not only that, but often because of our chains, people will come to know Christ.
When everything seems to be falling apart, God’s grace intervenes and reminds us that the story isn’t over yet. It’s only an intermission.
In Philippians we are reminded that God can use even the difficult things that happen to us to draw us closer to Him. Grace trades our shame for courage, knowing our pain is not wasted and God is always bigger than the circumstances we feel “chained” to right now.
Is there some foreboding on your part, something in your past that seems impossible to overcome? My friend, God is not through with you, just yet. The apostle Paul’s words should encourage us to come to God in the midst of our forebodings, our fears, our anxieties, our failures.
Knowing that God’s not done with you should change the way you look at life and even your future. Remember, God “who has began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”
Trust His leadings.
And when you see God working through the knotted complexities and difficulties of your life—what greater joy will be yours when you share with someone else your story of how God worked out miraculously in your life experience.