Finding good in the bad

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”

Our Bible verse for today: “What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice …” Philippians 1:18 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Finding good in the bad”

Paul the evangelist wanted to be a free man traveling around the Roman empire sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. Instead, he was confined in a prison, chained to a Roman guard day and night, old and sick, and probably facing execution. But rather than lamenting his circumstances and being defeated by them, Paul shifted his focus and simply began witnessing to the guards and the other prisoners. In the process, not only did he win some of them to faith in Christ, but many of them began sharing the good news as well. And according to verse 18, this gave Paul great joy.

When you approach your difficulties the way Paul approached his, you win! Even if the circumstances seem bleak and are not what you would prefer, you and Jesus together can still turn the situation into a win for you and for the kingdom of God.

Make no mistake about it that Satan, the Roman government officials, the enemies of the Gospel, and all those people who just didn’t like Paul all thought they had won. They were thinking that Paul was in prison and maybe close to being executed. Surely this would teach him a lesson and shut him up. Surely this would stop him in his tracks and prevent him from making any further progress towards his life goals.

But they didn’t know who they were dealing with. They didn’t know that he had the power of the Holy Spirit within him, and they didn’t know he was sitting there in his jail cell making lemonade out of those lemons. Paul’s goal was to preach the gospel and he might have been in jail, but the other prisoners and the guards were in jail with him. Therefore, he had a captive audience! So, he just shook off the inconvenience of his circumstances and got busy taking advantage of the opportunities that were there.

Opportunities are always there. Regardless of what your circumstances are, and regardless of how bad things seem, there are always opportunities for you to accomplish some good thing in the middle of it all.

Romans 8:28 assures us that God can and will bring good things out of bad situations for those who love Him. That doesn’t mean the circumstances themselves are good – they may not be. But it does mean that God can and will bring some good thing out of those bad circumstances. Paul’s bad circumstances created an opportunity for him to move forward towards things that were important for him. Therefore, he ended up winning in this situation not losing, and that gave him great joy. The same can be true for you. With God’s help when you find the good in the bad, you win!

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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