What’s your “this”?

As Paul famously sat imprisoned for the faith, he knew “this” would turn out for his deliverance through prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:19).

He needed prayer and he needed the Holy Spirit to earnestly hope he wouldn’t be ashamed, but that Christ would be magnified in him whether he lived or died. (Phil 1:19-20)

Paul will go on to pen some of the most famous words of all the Bible, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)

Know this- The only way Paul could so confidently face adversity in this life was to be thoroughly convinced of the absolute control and complete goodness of the One he had trusted with his life for eternity.

Paul knew God could sovereignly use every situation and everything he would ever face to further the Kingdom.

I expect if asked, most reasonably mature believers would agree with Paul that God can use everything to further the Kingdom, BUT when that “everything” is YOUR everything-your health, your job, your finances, your loved ones, your plans, your country…that’s when the rubber really meets the road.

The way our things, our “this” can turn out for deliverance, salvation, and good is when we are covered in prayer and daily dependent on the Holy Spirit to supply what we need, when we need it.

Friends, you gotta ask others to pray for you! These are hard days for so many of us.

I see some of you asking for and praying for each other in the comments on this page! And I so appreciate those of you who pray for me! Thank you for doing so! There is peace and power there!

I also know we need to remind each other that God will daily give us what we need in the moments we need it. (That’s daily dependence.)

Listen, He won’t often give it before, but instead, JUST when we need it. He will be there in ways we can’t imagine.

He doesn’t tell us how He will bring good, and it’s often in ways we never, ever, imagined.

And when it comes to what we can imagine- we absolutely have to STOP imagining all kinds of scary scenarios where God leaves us to fend for ourselves—that’s simply not our Father or true to His character. (Somebody needs to hear me on this today!)

He, who cannot lie, says He will never leave us or forsake us! (Deut 31:9) He doesn’t tell us what His presence in our hard moments will look like, but He tells us He will be there.

And stick with me another moment and let this soak in—God’s being with us “there” means His power will “rest on us” and this will be all we need when we need it. Don’t miss the “rest on” words in the passage below—

Paul had asked the Lord to take away his trouble and pain, but the Lord replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” and Paul learned to say, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may REST UPON me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:9-10, emphasis mine)

Friend, these are not just words! The Lord’s power “will rest upon us” just when we need it as has been recounted by so many who walked hard roads, and even by those who have been beaten, tortured and even martyred for the faith!

Let’s trust our Father, who will be with us in everything that comes our way! His presence, resting on us, will carry us all the way Home!

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Again, thank you for praying with me and studying here with me on this page.