Each tuesday night, I meet with a group of guys for a small group time where we discuss God's word and lift each other up. Last week we started going through the book of Phillipians, and I have really enjoyed it. Last night in particular there were some things in the passage that we discussed that really stuck out to me, so I thought I would share those this morning. The first thing we have to realize here is that Paul is in prison in ROme when he writes this. He isn't just going about his normal life of traveling and such not. So that kind of sets the tone for how powerful these words are coming from him.
The first thing that stuck out to me is how he refers to the fact that as a result of his suffering, as a result of what has happened to him, it had become known throughout the entire palace guard, that he was imprisoned for Christ. In other words, there had to be something visible about what he was doing. There had to be an attitude coming from him that was different from the other prisoners. Not only was his attitude and zeal for God in prison a ministry tool, it was also an encouragement to fellow believers. It says next that because of his chains, his fellow brothers are preaching with more power, more courage and fearlessness. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most was the fact that it was because of his chains, and his struggles that this ministry occurred. It wasn't just because he was a nice guy that was standing up for Christ, it wasn't because he had a perfect life, no, it was because of the struggles and the hard times that he saw the response of those around him.
This really made me think about the power of ministry we have within our struggles and hard times. I believe that people tend to watch us more closely when we experience a trial or a hard time, just to see how we react. It is in those times that we often don't think about our actions and just respond depending on the situation at hand. Sometimes that is with anger, sometimes it is depression, sometimes it is just how we communicate with our body language. Nevertheless, people are watching.
So the point I want to make today is that we are constantly being watched. As believers in Christ, and as people who preach the word of God, we are watched extremely closely. We can chose to respond in the way that first comes to mind. We can chose not to think about it and just react. Or we can chose to think about how this struggle could be used as a powerful tool for God, and then react accordingly. What do people see you as today? Can they see a strong follower of God, or just another person? Food for thought.
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