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Sitting down with Phil : 2

I have three amazing children, and my youngest is at the age where she is struggling with life being unfair.  She will tell her oldest sister with much conviction "That's not fair!"  she will yell it at times, throw her arms in a defensive stance and get worked up.  Her world is over, her life is crashing, and she cannot cope with the fact that something is out of balance.  I can tell you that as her mother I don't buy into the injustice of the world.  I am not here to pamper her, I am here to prepare her for the real world.  So I tell her gently "Kiki life is not fair, but you can't focus on all the bad, sometimes you have to just look at the good."  she isn't buying it, I can see it in her skeptic brown eyes.  Many times when my all of my kids start focusing on the bad I will remind them of their good.
         As adults we are the same way.  I have become completely consumed with the injustice of the situations around me and they have sucked all the joy out of me.   I spent more time crying over the unfairness and being stopped in my tracks just like my daughter.So I sat down with Phil (aka Philippians) and I didn't have to get very far before I was reminded of what it meant to be a mature Christian.  Well here it is Philippians 1:12- 19 talks about how Paul, servant of God and author of the majority of the new testament deals with unfairness.

Selfless advancement 

Paul's ultimate goal was to advance the gospel, not advance Paul.  His eyes were fixed on the advancement of the gospel of Christ Jesus, and that is what he measured his life by.  Everything that happened in Pauls life was measured by this one thing.  He says it in verse 12 of Philippians 1.  Now, I want you to know, brothers that what has happened to me has resulted in the advance of the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is in the cause of Christ.   Paul was in prison, he was chained to a roman guard, and he was excited and rejoicing in the fact that the gospel of Jesus was spreading.Was the situation fair?  NO, but again he measured everything that happened to him against Jesus Christ.
Cause and Effect 

 He says moving forward in verse 14:  Most of the brothers in the Lord have gained confidence from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the message fearlessly.  So he is saying here essentially "Because I am in prison and chained it is causing others to speak out, and I am thankful for this.  Verse 15 adds more "To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and strife, but others out of good will.  These do so out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.  The others proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, seeking to cause me anxiety in my imprisonment.  Okay WHAT?!  Seriously people are preaching because they love Jesus and some are preaching to gain their own platform.  And they are trying to cause Paul more issues while he is in Prison.  This is not fair for sure, not only is he in prison, but people are targeting him and trying to cause him harm. His eyes were focused on the results: Is the advancement of Jesus being done?  It didn't matter whether God used him as an agitator or a or a motivator, if God wanted to use him as a catalyst for the advancement of Gods Kingdom that is his goal.

Results Focused 

 Verse 18 puts it all in perspective of where Paul was focused and it wasn't on Paul. :  What does it matter? Just that in every way, whether out of false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed.  Paul measures and filters everything on where his perspective is found.  And this is hard for me as it probably is for you at times.  People are not so nice sometimes. They want to break us because they are broken, they want to hurt you because they are hurting, and they want it their way because we are selfish creatures.  You see like my precious baby girl we can pout over the unfairness of our lives.  Bad stuff is going to happen, we are going to disappoint and be disappointed. People are going to talk about you, use you, try to manipulate you, cause you anxiety, but here is the question: Is the gospel of Jesus being lifted high in your life?  In your life no matter what season is your goal for your own happiness, or is your goal to be servant, and lift the name of Jesus.

Sitting down with Phil has helped me reflect on where my focus is in the season of my life and how to let go of the weights that are holding me down.  When I am representing Jesus am I more concerned about the being the light of the world or just being in the lime light.  Lime light will kill you if your not reflecting Jesus.  It will burn you up whole, but if you reflect his light to others you are doing his work.  This was Paul's focus and the difference between his capacity for God to use him.  Paul didn't care about the limelight unless it was spreading the name of Jesus. So Life is unfair: Rejoice and focus on shining Jesus through those hard moments.

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