Philippians 1:12-14 (NIV)
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
Paul was no reckless optimist, wearing rose-colored glasses and denying any problems that came along. Instead, he was a realist who understood that God is in control, and that He works for good in all things (Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 9:8), even in the hard and inconvenient things.
Paul was under house arrest in Rome, having appealed a heresy charge levied against him by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, in order to avoid an assassination plot against him. Even though this sounds like the plot of a modern spy novel, for Paul it was real life. So, his movements were extremely restricted. In fact, he was chained to guards 24/7 to ensure that he didn’t flee before his hearing before Caesar.
Many people would have figured that their ministry was on hold in such circumstances. But not Paul. He couldn’t leave the premises, but he had many visitors each day (Acts 28:30), as well as a captive audience in the guards that he was chained to each day. With all of them he shared his testimony and the good news of Jesus, urging them to receive salvation in His name. And many did! So, even though his movement was limited, he still forcefully pursued his ministry as an apostle. And God empowered him and gave him success.
But there was also a side benefit. Many of the brothers and sisters in Christ had visited Paul and had seen that how was continuing his kingdom work, even in chains. Or they heard what he was continuing to do while imprisoned. And this had inspired them to work even more persistently for God’s kingdom. After all, if Paul could win people while he was imprisoned, they had no excuse for not winning more and more people for the kingdom themselves.
Father, we need a shot of this inspiration in our own day. Far too many Christians today are silent, not sharing the gospel of Jesus with anyone for fear of rejection or ridicule. We need to see Paul’s example clearly, and let it inspire us to action, just as it did those in his own day. We need to see it clearly so that we grow ashamed of our fear and our resultant inertia, so that we begin to push out anew with the gospel Thank You for working so powerfully through Paul, so that we have such an inspiring example for our own times. Amen.