Living as if God was in Control, part 1

I’m excited about this new series we’re beginning this week. We’ll be looking at Paul’s letter to the Philippians and discover a joyful community living together in times of testing. Over the next four weeks, we will look at each one of the chapters in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Here we find a community learning how to live together - with one another and in God’s presence - during some very difficult times.

A great place for us to start is by recognizing that God’s people will always face times of trials and testing. Trials and testing for believers started in the early church, who faced these trying times as they lived, and the church grew, during the Roman Empire. The truth is, difficult times for believers continue today in places like China and parts of Africa, India and the Arab world - even places most of us barely could find on a map, like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and others. 
 

Now, you may think, “Those places or events are centuries or continents away. What does this have to do with me?” Well, times of trial and testing not only happen on the large social scale; they also happen on the individual, personal scale, to people like you and me and we need to be aware of this. 
 

Near the end of his ministry, the Apostle Paul wrote these words of encouragement, in 2 Timothy 3:12, “All who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” CSB. You see, Paul began learning this lesson during his time in the City of Philippi and years later, when the Philippians came to his aid, while he was in prison. That’s a part of what the Book of Philippians will help us to understand.
 

For background, the Book of Acts, chapter 16, records the roots of the church in Philippi. As we work our way through this series, we can read Acts 16, and see how God used Paul to start a brand-new work in this city, a city whose people had never heard the Gospel message.

I can tell you: it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In the first decades of this new Philippian church, they experienced both success and difficulties. Have you ever thought about that possibility? We can experience difficulties even during times of success. Some might be tempted to think that the presence of difficulties somehow means they are living outside of the will of God. But listen, friends, that is not necessarily true. In fact, I would say it is not often true. Many times, Christians can be right where God puts them, doing exactly what He asked them to do, and they still face persecution, opposition, misunderstanding, and suspicion.
 

This is true at a larger, social level, as well as an interpersonal level. (Let me again encourage you to read through Acts chapter 16 this week as it will set the scene for much of what we will be talking about over the next few weeks.)

Continued tomorrow