They Can’t Imprison the Message
Philippians 1:12-21 (The Message)
12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.
15-17 It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.
18-21 So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!
Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. (Phil. 1:12 MSG)
My son was devastated a the loss of his classmate and friend. However, prayers through Moms in Prayer and many others had gone before this time. God knew. He knew this would happen. It did not take Him by surprise that this young man, only 20 years old, would pass away in his dorm room. God knew. And He had a plan and a purpose.
A service was planned for the team. This was a time for them to come together. At time to cry with one another.
We started praying for this service. Others were praying. My husband and I and our son's Fellowship of Christian Athlete mentor headed to the college for the service. All the while we had been praying. Praying that God would use this tragedy. That "Instead of being squelched, the Message (would) actually prosper."
When we arrived at the college we say a group of people outside the room where the service was to take place. I asked if they were family. They responded that they were. I remember hugging the mother and letting her know I was so sorry. So sorry.
After all, we know there are few words to say, few words that offer comfort at this time.
The team arrived and the service started. The Pastor shared comforting words from the Bible and his own experience with losing a child. He also shared the story of Lazarus from John 11. He shared that we are sad, we don't understand and we question why. He shared that through this time can gain comfort from the Bible, from friends and from the memories we have. He shared about Hope. It was a powerful message.
Afterwards, there were college students just sitting there. Picture that: college students just sitting there. No phones, no where to rush off to. Just sitting. For some they had never know anyone who passed away. They were in shock. Someone who just two days ago was at practice with them.
I then had the opportunity to comfort some of the women and pray with them.
My husband and I also had the opportunity to interact with a coach. A coach who we had seen at every event. Yet, we didn't know. We didn't know he too was a believer. We had a chance to interact with someone from the college who "found" {read: God} my son's Fellowship of Christian Athletes twitter account, and reached out to my son. Someone who I had been praying for prior to this evening, but never met.
And finally we found out that the young man who passed away was a believer.
But that's not all....(More here.)
No comments:
Post a Comment