Joy from Jail

I am going to be speaking in my church in May, and I would like to share a condensed version of what I will be saying. I’m going to be talking about my favorite verse, Philippians 4:1 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I used to think that this verse meant that everything will be fine, or that there will always be a happy ending. Certain circumstances have proven me wrong. Since I became a Christian the only thing about suffering in my life that has changed is my reaction to it, family members have still gotten sick, I was cut from the team for the second time, I’ve bombed tests, life has been far from the easy street I imagined it would be. To understand Phil. 4:13, you need to look at what was going on when it was written, when Paul wrote the book of Philippians he was chained up in a jail cell, he has seen good friends doe by the hands of the Romans and probably knew his time was near. But he had great joy! He knew that Jesus was still with him and even though he was locked up and previously shipwrecked that Jesus still loved him and would give him strength. This verse doesn’t mean there will be no bumps in the road; it means that when the bumps come we’ve got God to get us through them. There are times when we feel pain in our lives but we must remember that God is looking down in love and will help us through the rough times.