My philosophy of life used to be ‘expect the worst and hope for the best’. My rationale was that if I expected the worst I wouldn’t be disappointed with whatever happened. And I could feel good even if reality turned out not to be the best. I preferred to be more optimistic about life, but my life hadn’t been a bowl of cherries. I suspect it was my defense mechanism motivating me to think that way since, like most people, I’m not fond of having bad things happen. My dad chided me for thinking that way. After Connie and I got married, God used her to also chide me about my wrong perspective of life.
I knew that is not how a Christian should think but try as I might, I couldn’t help myself. Through the years, the Holy Spirit has done what I had not been able to do for myself. Now it is rare that I even use that phrase—Praise be to God!! Albeit, while I’ve shifted out of that stage, I still am not as optimistic as I would like to be. Perhaps that is why Paul’s words have attracted my attention.
He seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time in prison—not the ideal place for a man of God. Ironically, while he wasn’t there for having done something illegal, could it have been that the Holy Spirit hand arranged for him to be in prison so much. Surprised to read that? Think about it. Most of the books of the Bible he authored were written in prison. I suspect he was such a Type A personality that he couldn’t slow down long enough to write them. So, like Psalm 23:2 (ESV) He makes me lie down in green pastures, I suspect God used prisons to make Paul slow down and write so you and I would learn from what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write.
In prison Paul put a spin on his circumstances that was certainly more optimistic than how I used to think. He wrote Philippians 1:12 (NLT2) And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. Is that the spin you would have put on unjustly sitting in a prison? Injustice is hard for anyone to take! How was he able to think that way, much less write it?
I believe he had come to see himself as being “in Christ” to the point that whatever happened to him was allowed by the Spirit for the good of the kingdom of God. It was natural then for him, when being unfairly put in prison, to immediately look to see how this imprisonment might provide God’s salvation to others (Philippians 1:13; Acts 16:19-34). When he was assaulted by an angry mob, he immediately used it for an opportunity to preach the gospel to them (Acts 22:1-21). Even when he was shipwrecked (imagine that trauma), he grasped that opportunity to share the gospel. Wow!
Paul’s response was not a result of self-discipline alone! It was a result of the Spirit enabling Paul to come to believe as Jesus believed in the same way the Spirit has enabled me to change my philosophy of life. It is easy for us to say we believe in Jesus, but it is a whole different thing to believe as He believed. I’m very challenged by Paul’s responses. My goal is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in coming to know our Lord intimately enough that I genuinely believe what He believed and thereby naturally respond as He responded. Paul shows us that is possible! Jesus said John 15:5 (MSG) I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Will it require the Holy Spirit to make you lie down in green pastures before you will come to that place in Him?