Phillipians 1:12  But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

When righteousness is the pursuit and fellowship with God is the passion, there can be great confidence that even the worst of times may be used for the kingdom as an advantage. On the other hand, if Paul had fallen out of fellowship to some degree by bemoaning his predicament and questioning the direction from God who had brought him to his state of bondage, there would have been no resource to draw from in the magnitude of the opportunity before him in Rome. If the goal were a mega-ministry with largest attendance and world-wide impact, it would surely have seemed that Paul was living an unfulfilled and, therefore, misguided life. But in his pursuit of God’s heart alone, there was a place designed specifically for him in Rome that would touch hearts and lives through the ages with a revelation of our identification with Christ. A place of discomfort, no doubt, it was yet a necessary and perfect place for Paul to devote time to communicating- both in the courts and through his letters- the incredible work of Christ in us. It is so good to draw from Paul this attitude that everything works together for the good, in all things we’re more than conquerors, and God will complete the work He’s begun in us right where we’re at.

Growing in faith in and relationship with God is finding in every element of life, no matter its difficulty, a way to further the Gospel and grow in the grace that comes from lifting our eyes to Jesus’ face in the midst of both the good and challenging moments. As long as peace is followed after and joy from His presence is bringing strength and confidence, circumstances of life are merely pawns in the hands of the Maestro. He can and will use anything presented as an offering from a heart that is satisfied in Him. Though it might appear that someone else is lifting up a more significant offering, we’ll only be kept from fulfilling the opportunity before us if our hearts are led into frustrations and avoidance of the very presence of God. Things are ‘happening’ to us, but each one of those things, when given to God, can become significant in His plan. From whatever position we find ourselves, there is a unique approach to our world that is important to God in shining forth His true from every angle. Growing in this graced understanding, and living a life of complete trust in God Almighty is our privileged opportunity. To see anything other than opportunity and potential in what we’ve been dealt is to miss the chance to see God make much out of a little or a masterpiece out of broken pieces.

No matter if its high or mighty low, our position right here and right now has Gospel substance when placed in the hands of the Master Craftsman. Thanks, praise, honor, worship, obedience and trust will allow Him to make lemonade from our lemon and kingdom significance out of worldly position no matter what that may be.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 6:12 am and is filed under Confidence, Encouragement, Knowing God, Passion, Provision, Restoration, Wisdom, Workmanship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.