I
read with interest the introductory words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians
1:12 when he talks of his own personal hardship and possible
disappointments, sadness, and struggles. He said in verse 12, "Now
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has
actually served to advance the gospel."
I
honestly don't know if I could say those words with full assurance while
sitting in prison especially when I know I haven't committed any crime or broke
any law. I wonder how many of us, when faced with a set-back, illness, job
loss, or other life-challenging situation, would step back and happily
exclaim "well, at least this will advance the gospel of
Christ!"
Don't
get me wrong, because as we know from the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, there
IS a season to mourn and to grieve loss,
to weep because of disappointment and set-backs. There is also a season to be
angry and to ask questions during these momentous times of great challenge.
But
there also needs to be a time to allow God to not only use these challenging
times in our life, but to use our
response to these events to bring Glory to Himself and to show
others how they can come to Him, through His Son Jesus, to experience a loving,
close, personal and intimate relationship with Him.
Our
issues are never isolated events “just for us”! What we go through…how we
respond to what we go through….how we handle what we go through….are ways
others learn more about God’s mercy, love, and grace. The various stages we go
through in our lives are not ours alone! They can be used by God to be the stepping
stones of awakening the soul of a non-Christian and it can end up being the answer
to the prayers of other people simply because they “watched us” go through our
event.
2 Corinthians 1:3,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts
us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the
comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
Allow
God to work through YOUR issues so that, in turn, you can use your experience
to touch the lives of OTHERS going through the same thing (or something
similar) as you went through. THAT is how you can allow your issues to “advance
the Gospel”. Through your specific experiences in life, many other will be blessed
and capable of finding comfort and peace in order to see that their
"issue" too, can indeed, "advance the Gospel" as well.