Recently I had a conversation with a woman who had
experienced a very difficult situation. The stress had affected her health, so
she had to visit the doctor frequently. But with a smile on her face, she told
me that she has been able to use this painful circumstance as an opportunity to
share Christ with her doctor.
In the book of Philippians, we read how the apostle
Paul used his difficult situation—imprisonment—to preach the gospel. The
Philippian believers were grieved because Paul had been arrested for preaching
Jesus, but he told them that his bondage had “actually turned out for the
furtherance of the gospel” (1:12). The whole palace guard and others knew why
he was in jail—because he preached Christ. Whoever came in contact with Paul
heard about Jesus—whether soldiers (who guarded him 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week) or others outside. As a result of using his bad news to share the good
news, some of the guards may have even become believers (4:22). Just because
Paul was confined didn’t mean that the gospel was confined.
As Jesus-followers, we can allow our pain to be a
platform to share the gospel. In our bad news, let’s find an opening to share
the good news.
Pain can be a platform to share God. (RBC)
