This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
Fairy tales like Cinderella have a similar trajectory from mundane life, to terrible, to great, back to terrible again, and then happily ever after. When watching the movie or reading the story, there is a comfort that accompanies the sorrow for the protagonist and anger toward the villain. The comfort comes only from knowing that there is a “happily ever after” which takes the sting out of the down moments in the story. Paul was in prison when he wrote these words but he knew some things that made this down moment bearable. First, the story’s author wrote this part of Paul’s life. Second, that Jesus showed Paul a “happily ever after” by revealing himself to Paul on the Damascus Road.
These things are our comfort as well. We know that God has written the current chapter we are in, whether it is illness, poverty, or strained relationships. Each of these things can bring us to our knees if we do not know about the “happily ever after”, but with the knowledge of the happy ending promised in the Bible, we can undergo all these sufferings at once and still not lose heart. It is not a fairy tale. It is the Greatest Story Ever Told, that Jesus died so that we may have life.
Dear Lord, thank you for the story and for our part in it. May we see our current circumstances as a chapter in your great story. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church