| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Living with joy” Our Bible verse for today: “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel.” Philippians 1:12 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Obstacles can lead to opportunities” The Chinese language in its written form uses pictures as symbols. These pictures are usually an assortment of squiggly lines, straight lines, curved lines, and small circles. The drawings are intricate and complex and the same symbol often has multiple, and sometimes contrasting meanings. For instance, the symbol for the word “weiji,” which means crisis, carries within it the double mean of danger and opportunity. That’s right – when you see that symbol it can be describing a crisis which includes danger, or an opportunity, or both. The reason is because many times, an opportunity appears in the middle of a moment of a crisis. So, the lesson is that in the middle of the crisis we need to be looking for the opportunity that may be there as well. That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul models for us in Philippians 1:12. If you remember the context of the letter, Paul is an old man now who was coming to the end of approximately thirty years of very hard ministry. During those years he had no home, he had no income of his own during most of that time, and he was constantly hounded by his enemies. He was chased out of town after town, beaten up repeatedly, imprisoned on multiple occasions, subjected to harsh conditions such as intense cold, extreme heat, long periods without food or water, shipwrecks, and more. Now here he sits in prison, again, an old man with a broken body, probably facing execution. But while he was there, rather than lamenting his miserable circumstances, he instead wrote this upbeat and encouraging letter to the Philippians which is all about joy in Christ. In the first part of chapter one he began the letter by writing about his deep affection for the Philippian Christians. Now he moves into a passage where he writes about how he is using his adverse circumstances in a positive way to further his ultimate objective of sharing the Good News about Jesus Christ at every opportunity. What we learn from Paul’s example is that adversity can be the catalyst that moves us forward to achieve God’s will. For Paul, that was a cause for great joy. No sane person looks for trouble or is happy when it comes. All of us would prefer to avoid crisis situations. But life happens. Trouble comes. Occasional pain and heartache are part of this package deal. The question isn’t if it will happen, but how we will handle it once it does happen. As we learn from Paul’s example, even in a crisis or problem situation there will be opportunities for us, if we will just look for them. Are you looking for the opportunities present in your difficulties? And are you taking advantage of those opportunities? We’ll think more about this tomorrow. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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Oak Hill Baptist Church 
Amen. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. May we always give thanks, no matter what life brings our way. Blessings, pastor Jim.