“And I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ” (Phillipians 1:13-14 NLT).
Oh, I know you could give me an earful about your life. The ups, the downs, the good, the bad, the most precious—and the ugly. We could spend an afternoon chatting about what’s happened to you up to this point. I could hold back chuckles, I could attempt to keep my jaw from hitting the floor, I might be able to stop the tears from flowing (very doubtful). I could sit beside you as you reminisce, as you fume, as you struggle with spilling your guts.
I could sit while you detail happenings that have made you into who you are today. I might struggle to understand how you’d made it this far. I might possibly pat you on the arm and console you over misdeeds done to you as a child. I could shake my head over your particularly sad childhood, dysfunctional family or horrible tragedy. I could pass tissue after tissue as you bare your soul.
And in the end? In the end, I’m going to ask…
How has God used your life as a spotlight on His grace? You see, it’s not about what’s happened to you, how you overcame or who you are on this side of the tragedies, traumas or testings—it’s all, ALL, about Him.
Malinda Edgell
Illinois
PRAY TOGETHER: Intercede today for a Christian educator in your local public school.
