From Tragedy to Triumph

Through all of these difficulties, Paul said that he had learned the secret of how to be content in the midst of them. He said this, “I can do all things through Christ Who empowers me.” Someone asked me once what that actually means. Can we jump off a building and fly? I told him, “No, that's not what it means.” What he was saying was that I can do all the things God asks me to do.

God asks us to “Fear not.” He asks us to walk in faithfulness and trust in Him. He asks us to go into all the world and tell people about Him, and as we go, believing, signs would be there to legitimize our words. Sick people would be healed, devils would be cast out and the presence of the Holy Spirit would be a tangible entity that you could feel. Paul was undoubtedly the greatest missionary of the early church. At first glance, it seems to make no sense that God would allow him to be jailed and spend the last years of his life in prison. Paul was a “hands on” kind of guy. If he heard of a problem in one of the churches that he started, he would pack his stuff and head out there and fix it. Sounds great...makes sense...but God was looking at a bigger picture. He warned Paul ahead of time what was coming and with Paul’s agreement, He allowed Paul to enter the Roman Justice System. Paul was no longer able to be a “hands on” missionary. His only way of communicating with all of his churches was to write letters. Rather than getting offended, Paul trusted in His God and worked with what he had and that was the ability to write letters. These letters have survived the centuries and make up over half the New Testament. If Paul had been free to travel, he would have visited the churches instead of writing to them and we would not have these letters that became the foundational teachings of the body of Christ, the Church, that have touched us so greatly.