Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
Summary: Comparing ourselves to Paul puts our own experiences in an interesting light.
Most of us have had a bad day now and then, but very few of us have ever had bad days like Paul’s bad days.
Imagine going to work and ending up in prison — for years! Or, you are just minding your own business, trying to do your job, and somebody stirs up a riot against you. Before you get to your first coffee break, soldiers grab you and drag you off to be flogged or beaten with rods. Then, just before you clock out for the day, an angry crowd gathers around you, physically carrying you outside the city limits while simultaneously beating you up on the way. Once outside the city, they all pick up rocks and throw them at you until, bruised and bleeding, you black out from the pain (2 Corinthians 11:21-27).
No … most of us have never had a bad day like Paul’s.
Chained like an old junkyard dog, Paul is unable to go where he wants. Stuck in prison, he is forced to share his thoughts by writing his words instead of speaking face to face. In the midst of suffering frustration and pain well beyond what you or I have ever experienced, he writes:
“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.”
How does his suffering “advance the gospel?”
Paul’s job, if you will, is to represent Jesus Christ’s New Covenant with humanity (Jeremiah 31: 31-34). Some of Paul’s former coworkers think the New Covenant is just for them. Others believe that the New Covenant is only valid if you merge it with parts of the old one.
Paul sees his job differently. After a brief sit-down with the CSO (Chief Spiritual Officer), Jesus, Paul realized he had been going about his job all wrong. Now he was on the right track, but not everyone agreed with him.
Paul’s bad days were not over, yet he continues to press on for the sake of his job. He refuses to quit. Chained and in prison, Paul continues to carry out his mission of sharing the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ with everyone he meets. He may have preferred to have preached elsewhere, but being where he was brought him into contact with the people God wanted him to meet.
Application: Never give up.
Food for Thought: How do we know if God can use a situation when we can’t see anything good about the place we are in?
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