Fallout

“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;” — Philippians 1:12

As I read that verse, my first thought is about some of the hardships I have gone through in my own life and how God has used them to change me. But there is an important distinction that needs to be made.

Paul’s hardships were connected to his faithfulness to Christ and his ministry of the gospel. But some of the hardships I have experienced were the result of my own sin and poor decisions. Some came through the sinful choices of other people, and some are just the results of living in a sin filled world.

Those things are not the same as Paul suffering for the gospel, and we should never abuse scripture to make it say something it doesn’t. This verse is not teaching that every hardship in a person’s life has the same cause or purpose as Paul’s imprisonment, nor that every painful circumstance is itself good.

It is specifically showing that Paul’s gospel-related suffering, which appeared to hinder ministry, was providentially used for the furtherance of the gospel. So while I have been through some painful circumstances that I never would have chosen, those things are not the same.

But as I kept thinking about it, I realized that Scripture gives us other passages that help explain what I have seen in my own life.

Psalm 119:67 says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.” Then in verse 71, the psalmist says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”

There have been times when I went in directions I should not have gone, and the consequences of those choices were painful. I cannot look back and say those choices were good, but I can say that God used the affliction that followed to get my attention, correct me, and bring me back to His Word.

There are also hardships that come because of what other people have done. Joseph’s words in Genesis 50:20 are helpful there: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.” What his brothers did to him was still evil, but their evil did not prevent God from accomplishing His purpose.

There are some folks who believe that God is directly controlling every action we take, that he forms our very thoughts and our words, even if those things are wicked and sinful. They say they are respecting the fact that God is sovereign, and that nothing can happen outside of his will.

But that actually makes God quite small. The idea that we are pre-programmed biological robots acting out the desires of our programmer results in a much smaller view than the supreme God of creation who can allow us to step outside of his will and still manage to work things to His purposes.

So some of those things in life have exposed areas in me that needed to change. Some have humbled me. Some have brought consequences that are irreparable. But it all drove me back to Scripture and made me realize how much I needed to stop merely knowing what God said and actually obey it.

And through all of that, one of the things God has produced in me is a greater desire to share the gospel.

That is where Philippians 1:12 connected with me.

Paul’s situation was different, but his words made me think about the fact that hardship does not have to end in wasted years, bitterness, or uselessness. God can take circumstances that seem like nothing but loss and use them to redirect a life toward greater obedience and greater usefulness.

Now I can see that some of the hardest seasons of my life were also seasons God used to bring me closer to His Word and have given me a stronger burden to tell other people about Jesus Christ.

So the question I have been left with after reading this passage is not, “Why did I have to go through that?” but, “What has God taught me through it, and how should that change the way I live now?”

For me, part of that answer is becoming clearer. I want the things God has taught me, even through painful circumstances, to result in a life that is more obedient to Him and more useful in the furtherance of the gospel.

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