Episode 2633 - Lesson 2 - Tuesday January 06 - Spiritual Discernment Applied

Spiritual Discernment AppliedThe Philippians were understandably distressed when they heard of Paul's imprisonment. Now his work was severely limited. He could not travel. He could not preach. He could not visit the synagogues and teach people about Jesus as the Messiah. He could no longer raise up churches. The Philippians sent Epaphroditus to ascertain the apostle's condition, to encourage him, and to ensure that his physical needs were being met.Read Philippians 1:12-18. How did Paul view his imprisonment? What lessons can we learn from his attitude, despite the circumstances he found himself in?The message Paul sent back with him must have surprised the Philippians. Paul saw his circumstances through different eyes. His spiritual discernment led him to see his imprisonment as a good thing. It didn't hinder his work at all, but "actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel" (Phil. 1:12, NKJV). Where others saw only chains and bars, Paul saw his Roman guards as potential souls in God's kingdom. He saw also that his imprisonment greatly encouraged others to be more active and more determined to spread the gospel, to speak boldly for Christ without fear of the consequences.It may be hard to imagine, but some actually thought to benefit from Paul's imprisonment. Apparently, they thought his obscurity would lead to more attention for themselves and their own preaching of the gospel. What a powerful but sad example of human selfishness, even in the church. As Jeremiah said long before Paul: " 'The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?' " (Jer. 17:9, NKJV).Fortunately, in contrast, some faithful workers also became more zealous to spread the gospel. They loved Paul so much that the suffering they saw him endure for his faith led them to trust Christ more and emboldened them to be even more active for the Lord. It energized them to go where before they were afraid to go; it led them to speak in situations during which before they kept silent; it led to even more people accepting Christ and spreading the gospel of salvation.What lesson have you learned from experiences that, though unquestionably bad, also brought about some benefits? Even in cases in which a benefit might not be apparent, how can we learn to trust God regardless?