Devotions: Philippians
A devotion based on Philippians 1:12-13.
Paul had a rough life. A number of times in his life he went through some very difficult circumstances. Beatings, imprisonment, you name it, Paul had it. Philippians is one of the prison epistles, that is it was a letter that he wrote from jail. How would you feel if you were a major religious leader suffering your faith? Paul saw it not only as an acceptable price but as something that would ultimately benefit the spread of the Gospel.
There are some people who abandon Christianity because of suffering. The assumption is that if you are a follower of Jesus, life must be easy. Not only are such promises missing in the Bible, there are warnings about how followers of Jesus will suffer. When Paul was first converted, Jesus sent a messenger to Paul to tell him about how great his ministry would be but also how much he would suffer. How do you respond to the bad things that happen to you? Do you feel betrayed by God or do you see them as natural occurrences in life?
