Please read these verses in your own Bible or online (Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A+27-30&version=NIV The notes are from my studies.
v 27-28a “Whatever happens…” Paul makes no promises about his future. He reminds the Philippians that they have a three-fold responsibility:
their personal behavior (as Kingdom citizens), their unity (in spirit, mind and faith), and their courage (refusing to stampede like frightened horses). He wasn’t asking them to do anything he wasn’t already doing.
v 28b- 30 Their behavior, unity, and courage proves that God has got them and is saving them. (God is visible and glorified when we resist the enemy’s weapons of lies, fear and intimidation.)
It’s hard for us to see suffering as a good thing. Yet Christ suffered, Paul suffered, the Philippians suffered… and we suffer.
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Oh, Lord, I need to rethink suffering: it’s a gift, not a punishment. A butterfly must struggle from the chrysalis or it cannot fly, but it doesn’t know that. Nor can I always know what purpose our suffering and struggles have in Your plan for me and for those around me. But we don’t have to know. Give us the courage and unity to endure, for Your sake alone. Amen
I love this prayer. I’m sharing it with friends. So many of us struggle emotionally as well as physically to cope with suffering. Thank you.