Joy and Peace Through AdversitySample

The Center is God

Philippians 1:12–14 says: “My dear friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the good news. The Roman guards and all the others know I am here in jail because I serve Christ. Now, most of the Lord’s followers have become brave and are fearlessly telling the message.”

Paul speaks in the midst of his prison experience. He is not focused on the bad that is happening around him. In fact, the center of Paul’s life is not his own self nor his difficult situation. Paul did not live as if God revolved around him. On the contrary, he knew that he was revolving around an eternal purpose. 

My circumstances are not important; they will serve and fulfill the purpose for which I live and came into existence. If what happens to me serves that purpose, it does not matter what it is. The center of the universe is not me, but God. 

People live as if they are the center of everything and God revolves around them. That is an erroneous belief and not an adequate perspective for the children of God. This false perspective says that God exists for me and I am the center of the universe. In this false mindset, God watches what I do to please and bless me. No matter how I live, God protects me from anything or person who wants to hurt me. He moves in my favor daily, regardless of what I do, because He loves me and is mindful of my necessities and desires. God waits for me to say, “In Jesus’ name,” to quickly do as I say. All of this is an incorrect perspective. 

Paul’s perspective is that everything revolves around God and His purpose. My happiness does not depend on external things, because God did not create me for that. My life has only one goal, which is to be a channel to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. My circumstances do not change the primary thing, which is Him. This perspective gives us a goal, which is to focus daily on the purpose for which we were created.