“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)
Everything that happens in our life has purpose. There is no such thing as an “accident” in God’s scheme of things. If it happens, it has purpose. Our job is to let the Lord unveil that purpose day by day as He works in and through our life.
To worry, fret, and try to figure out “what’s going on!” is to work against the Spirit’s leading in our lives. Our goal in everything is to listen to the Spirit’s leading so as to determine what our role is in God’s activity. We’re never the issue, God is, so what’s going on in our lives is always secondary to what God’s intentions are.
Elisabeth Elliot gives us insight when she writes: “We never know what God has up His sleeve. You never know what might happen; you only know what you have to do now.” What is it that we must do now? So often our initial response to God’s activity in our life is to question, fear, worry, or ponder, not to act, but that’s the issue! God’s activity always invites a response on our part and therein lies our greatest potential to grow in Him.
“What you have to do now” is, or should be, our standard response to the Lord’s invitation: “Yes, Lord!” Rather than whining, crying, fretting, and worrying about ME – “What’s this going to mean to ME?” We lay our lives before the Lord in humble surrender and say: “How can I most meaningfully submit my life to You and allow You, O Lord, to gain glory in and through my life in this new circumstance?”
He’s not asking us to be happy about something tragic that’s happened in our life, He’s asking us to submit it to Him and to trust Him in and through its outcome. Was Paul happy about being in prison? Of course not, but he knew he was there by the Spirit’s leading. It was the natural outcome of a life devoted to the glory of the Savior, so he continued to minister to Christ’s glory in spite of his circumstances.
Paul knew the risks he was taking by continuing to share his faith. After beatings, being stoned, shipwrecked, and other means of torment for his faith, the Lord had made it clear to him that He had appointed Paul to stand before influential people, including kings, for His holy Name’s sake.
With whom will our current circumstances give us audience that we might never have met were it not for the accident, illness, or other “negative” circumstance we’re now experiencing? The Lord has given me an audience with doctors, nurses, support staff, technicians, and other patients I would likely never have met were it not for my Alzheimer’s. The Lord never puts anyone in our path except to give us opportunity to share His life and love with them.
What God’s up to is filling, empowering, and enabling you and me to honor and exalt Him in every circumstance of our lives! We must be intentional in every opportunity to give His Spirit free rein to work in and through us to the Lord’s glory and honor.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 