An Opportunity To Go Further

Philippians 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;

Through shipwrecks, prison shackles and beatings, Paul endured a whole lot of suffering during his ministry. It seems Paul suffered more during his days of Christian ministry than he did the other days of his life. While he was a religious law enforcer, he pretty much had it made. Whatever he wanted, he had access to it. But now that he was a servant of Christ he suffered much.

Paul knew that there had to be some reason for his suffering. He knew that a greater glory had to be waiting behind the dark clouds of hurt. What was it? What was worth all of this tragedy? It was the furtherance of the gospel. He knew that through his suffing, someone could come to know Christ as their Savior. I wonder if he ever thought, "Ahhhhh, I don't want to get on this ship and go there. I'm so tired."? I wonder if he questioned at times why he was were he was? If so, it is never recorded in our scriptures. So there is no reason for us to speculate about it. What is recorded in scripture is that he had confidence in knowing that God was going to do something great with the gospel through his sufferings.

Funny thing is, Christians today never want to endure suffering so that the gospel could go further. When we suffer, we see it as punishment instead of an opportunity. You could choose today! I could sit and whine about what has happened in my life, or I could shine for the gospel of Christ. I could let them see the One who suffered more than any other person on a cruel cross. It was for a better hope. A greater grace! The furtherance of the gospel!