Ephesians 1-3

How would I feel if my Christian leader were put in jail?  Would I be troubled that he might turn me in?  Would I be upset at this grave injustice?  Would I be tempted to abandon a faith that can land me in prison?  These are questions I have never had to consider.  When he wrote the Ephesian letter Paul was the leader in jail and he must have discerned or saw that the believers to whom he wrote were in turmoil over this situation.  But Paul challenged their thinking on how to view his situation.  His arrest for being a Christian leader was actually a reason for rejoicing.  The use of the phrase “for you” in Ephesians 3:13  was not the only time he used that in this letter.  In this chapter Paul earlier pointed out that his ministry was “for you” and then he talks about his sufferings “for you”.  It would be easy to fill guilty for his problematic situation but Paul didn’t just have a cheery attitude he saw many ways in which God was working out his will through his times of difficulties.  We need to ask for the same vision.  That we would not get hung up on how the world has won but look for the ways in which God is winning small victories to save many.

Stuart