The Lord & Our Difficulties

Today, Pastor Coleborn preached from Phil 1:12-21.

1. Paul & our difficulties
We often share our troubles with our friends and thus, here in Philippians 1, Paul shares his troubles with his Philippian Christian friends. In v13-14, he shares of his 'bonds'. 2 Cor 11:23-33 gives us a further description of Paul's bonds. A prisoner of the Romans, he was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked. His life was often in trouble. The natural response to all these troubles and difficulties will be to be rebellious, to give up, to be downhearted or to have our faith shaken. But not so for Paul. He was full of Christian hope, faith and love instead!
This sharing by Paul was to encourage the Philippians in the difficulties they faced. They met with persecutions, false teaches and envying and jealousy arose in the church (v15).

2. Christ Jesus & our difficulties
We can and ought to have peace and confidence in the midst of our difficulties. We must see Christ in our troubles - see that He is silently working in us through all our trails. With the thought of Christ being there to care for us in our trials (v21), we'll be able to face life no matter what it may bring. Paul can say what he said in v12-14 and v18-19 because he knows that his life is in God's hands and that God will keep His children.
Joseph in the OT faced many difficulties, including being thrown into prison for a wrong he didn't do. But these difficulties did not destroy Him (Gen 50:20). We are taught in Jam 1:2-6 that when we face difficulties and trials, we should realize that God is doing a good thing. He works in our trials that we may glorify God (Rom 5:3-5).

Let's remember this verse and may it be a source of comfort for us through trials and temptations!
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Isaiah 64:8