Pushing Past the Light Momentary Afflictions

The passage for April is Philippians 1:18b-30: 
  

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. 

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (ESV)

If you are new to this reading plan, follow the instructions on the right side of this page or click here to read the "Why Just One Letter" introduction article.

Throughout each month, we will post short articles to give some depth of understanding regarding our text (see the archive links on the lower right of this page for review). Today we will discuss...

Pushing Past the Light Momentary Afflictions 

Following the idea from the beginning of February's passage - and the idea from the end of March's passage - Paul points again toward REJOICING to start our passage for April.

Rejoicing. You may be saying to yourself, "Again?! How many times are we going to cover the same ideas in this letter?"

I'm glad you asked. While the themes are repeated over and again, they are applied in different ways. Also, The Bible is full of repetition because we all have a habit of forgetting the truth and drifting back out toward the world. This biblical repetition helps to anchor our hearts to where we are designed to stay and grow. 

This month, Paul says he rejoices for two reasons. The first reason has already been covered last month. Paul is rejoicing because Christ is being proclaimed! 

The second reason to REJOICE is that Paul knows that his current problems are not the end of the story.

We all have struggles, trials, problems, ordeals, tragedies and hardships. Some are self-inflicted, some are brought on by the sins of other people and some are a combination of the two.

We also all, everyone of us - including YOU - have an opportunity to take action during the storms in our lives and push through this light and momentary affliction. There are several ways to do that, today we will discuss one:

Take action by keeping your eyes focused on the future promise. You make it through this stormy season, whether it has been a bad day, bad week, bad month, bad year or bad decade - you make it through this season by keeping your eyes fixed upon the future promise. 

But wait. 

We're not merely talking about Heaven here. 

This is not just "Pie in the Sky" theology. 

It is true, there is NO greater reward to put our hope in than the reward of seeing Jesus face to face, hearing "Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and enter into your rest." 

Paul writes in verses 19 and 20 that he knows that everything will turn out for his deliverance, possibly through death. 

But, there are other milestones of joy and fulfillment that Jesus grants to Paul, and gives to us, during our journey to the GREAT REWARD. Those are good too, and they help to keep us going while we walk in the valley. 

Read the whole passage again. There is no doubt, that Paul wants to go see Jesus. Like, RIGHT NOW. And, even with that desire, Paul strives on because he has a God-given mission to help others. And in that he can rejoice. 

He says that he knows that the reason God has not taken him home is that God still wants him to build up the early church. 

You, Christian, have the same mission. You may sometimes wonder why you are still here. If for no other reason, you are here to pray for, to encourage, to instruct, and to support your local body of believers - WE are blessed by God to have YOU in our lives.

AND you are still here to share the Gospel with as many people as you can. If you have breath in your lungs and blood beating in your heart - that is the reason. 

If God wanted you to be with Him right now, instead of here with us, He would make that happen. In a heartbeat, he can stop your heart from beating.

However, Jesus prayed to the Father and asked that He would not take us - or you - out of the World, but only that the Father would protect us - and you - from the evil one while we are still here (John 17:15).

So, that's all great. But, you may be saying to yourself, "That's sounds wonderful. But the reality is, this season really hurts! I am in a lot of pain! Everything seems so empty!"

If any of those thoughts are yours, you are not alone. If the storms of life were pleasant, they wouldn't be called storms.

That's where the real beauty of verse 19 is found. Paul never tries to make the hard life seem awesome. But he shows us how to bear it.

First. Prayers of Others.

I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance (v.19)

When we are honest about our struggles and when we let others into the mess and pain of our lives, we invite them into the God-given cure for making it through this life. There is no such thing as a loner Christian in the Bible. Jesus commissioned a group, sent them off in twos and established the church as those who gather together in his name.

Knowing that our task was hard, He gave us each other to support and encourage and build one another up. That is through prayers and many other means. But other Christians can only help you if they know where you need help. Don't hold it in. Jesus has already forgiven you, you already have His acceptance, so don't let pride keep you from asking for help.

Second. The Holy Spirit.

I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance (v.19)

And finally, verse 19 tells us that Paul gets his help and finds reason to rejoice because of the help of the Holy Spirit.

You should not try to do this without the Spirit of God's help. In fact, you cannot get very far without Him. So many people try to tell you that God never gives you more than you can handle. The bible paints a picture of God giving people more than they can handle ALL THE TIME - it is at that point that we see our desperation and we remember that He is there for us.

We get the help. We are delivered. He gets the glory. And in that, we rejoice.

In fact, this isn't just how WE are to operate, it is the way that JESUS operated. It was not until the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism that His earthly ministry really took off.

The Spirit led Him into the wilderness and was there to help Jesus use the Word to defeat the temptations of Satan. And in Luke 4:14-21, we are told that it was in the power of the Spirit that Jesus returned from the wilderness to Galilee and began teaching. And Jesus gives the Holy Spirit the credit for His anointing and commission.

So, the take away for you as we start this month's passage is this:

Things are difficult.

The hardship is NOT the end of the story.

If you are in Christ, He has given you His People and His Spirit to help you carry on and find JOY - right now - while you wait for the GREAT REWARD.