The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Philippians 4:22,
Paul was falsely accused of bringing Gentiles into the temple in Jerusalem and causing a riot, see Acts 21:27-36. After a plot of the Jews to murder Paul and various legal proceedings, Paul appealed his case to Caesar and to Rome he went as a prisoner.
One might think things had spun out of control for Paul as he was serving the Lord as his apostle to the Gentiles, that his circumstances had deteriorated to a place where one might ask "Why?" in the unfairness of it all. As the Lord's apostle to the Gentiles it might seem his imprisonment had put Paul out of business. Not Paul. Paul knew something many of us need to know ourselves.
In Romans 8:28 Paul says, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." There he speaks specifically of how God uses the difficulties we experience in this life to conform us into the image of his Son. He builds character qualities within us that our old natures simply precluded.
We can likewise clearly see from Paul's experience of being falsely accused and imprisoned, God worked that for good as well. Sent right into the "belly of the beast" Paul now had opportunity (and took it) to evangelize Caesar's own household! In what may have initially appeared as nothing but personal disaster, God used it to bring what might be considered the ultimate evangelistic accomplishment of the day.
It causes me to think that whatever I may encounter that might appear to me as all bad, might just be God's way of bringing my way what is all good! After all, "in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." God did this in Paul's life and I'm certain he does it in ours as well. I need to be mindful that when things look bad, they really may be looking very good.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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