And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear… (Philippians 1:14)
why? This doesn’t make much sense if you think about it. If I see someone park in a handicap parking spot and get a ticket for it, it doesn’t encourage me to park in that spot. If someone preaches the gospel at the corner of 3rd & Main, and they get arrested for it, it doesn’t encourage me to go preach the gospel, unless…
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!… for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:4, 11)
… unless, that is, I am emboldened by their attitude. Unless I see that their imprisonment doesn’t steal their joy. Unless I see that they still have Jesus in prison.
One reason to fight for joy in the midst of trials: it encourages others to risk losing ordinary comforts for the gospel when they see you lose everything but your joy, for the gospel!
Jeff,
Good word. I am in the midst of preparing a sermon for next Sunday on this very topic. I woke up at 3:30 and worked on it for an hour and now at 7:45 I saw your post on facebook. Of course, I had to read it. While we fight for joy as you say, we must remember it is a fruit of the Spirit and our fight is to commune with Jesus. In that communing we will find the joy and be able to express it as we become like Him. Joy during trials is an amazing God-thing. God bless you, brother.