“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”*
The way I see it, Paul is either the ultimate optimist or he’s got some crazy view of the world we rarely hear of. The last time I was pulled over by a police officer I wasn’t exactly cheery about it. Paul visits Philippi, heals a lady, is arrested for it, severly flogged, and thrown into jail.* I’d be a little pessimistic at that point. Then there is an earthquake, the jailer freaks, then his whole family becomes believers, and then Paul and Silas are freed. And that’s his first time in Philippi. The list of other things that happens to Paul is way long, and now he’s sitting in some prison, probably in Rome and is writing to the folks back in Philippi. Paul is definitly an optimist.
What really set’s Paul apart though, what gives him the hope and joy that he has is that he has a worldview so different then anything we’ve encountered. I long for a perspective like this. Paul seems to relenquish all of his own power and trust fully in God’s hand in his life. Arrested? God has a plan for it. Flogged? God’s glory is revealed to others in that. I imagine Paul had ideas of what he wanted to do for God. I wonder how much he struggled with thinking God gave him a vision that he wasn’t able to carry out.
Today, try to be more optimistic, and do it because your worldview has changed. Trust fully in God and his hand in your life. See every situation and opportunity as placed there by God, and do your best to show the love of Christ in that place. That might mean relenquishing some of your own plans, even those you thought where God given.
It’s amazing – I constantly am looking back at all the “disasters” in my life and seeing how God used them to place me exactly where He wanted me or to advance His gospel in some way. And yet every time I notice it, I’m still surprised. Maybe one of these days I’ll figure it out…You are absolutely right that Paul’s worldview is unlike any other. If we consider his life in the context that he presents it in Galatians – “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (possibly paraphrased…I don’t have a Bible around to check my memory :)) – I guess his rationale is “what do I have to lose? God has put me here and if He wants to bring me out, so be it.” Our situations are no different, so why don’t I live like it? Thanks for the inspiration!
hmmmm…….optimism and hope are hard to come by these days. It seems like that days of being a passive victim have replaced the hope that once existed in the hearts of men and women. Let’s bring it back!!!
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This reminds me of Romans 12, where we are instructed to offer ourselves as living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I have often wondered what this transformation of our thoughts is supposed to look like. We seem to see in Paul a concrete example of this radical worldview change, where even his own life didn’t matter quite so much as following the plan that God laid out for him. I long for this kind of faith, this kind of assurance, and I think we’re called to it.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Don’t you just love Philippians?!? :o)