The apostle Paul wrote to the church while imprisoned. In spite of deplorable conditions, he was confident. He placed his life in Jesus’s hands.
“My imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brothers and sisters, trusting in the Lord…have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some…are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill…out of love…I am appointed for the defense of the gospel…” (Philippian 1:12-17).
Roman prisons in Paul’s time were filthy, smelly, and dark, with prisoners chained to the wall. Prisoners waited to die of illness or starvation. Daily suffering was their life.
“God’s favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Adversity is temporary!
Paul wrote, “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction… that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who rescued us from so great a danger of death, and will rescue us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, if you also join in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor granted to us through the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:5-11).
You may face physical and emotional sorrow, but Paul faced death, yet held onto his faith! Trusting Jesus gave him hope and peace, even in a Roman prison! You can develop such faith. Trust in Jesus!
A preacher was driving on a two-lane road. He saw a truck in the blind curve ahead. The truck was traveling north in his southbound lane! They collided, head-on. The preacher faced multiple surgeries. His insurance settlement allowed him to satisfy his home mortgage and pay off his college debt. Good came from the bad!
Paul’s eternal perspective gave him peace to endure. You can develop the same (please read Romans 8:18).