The Struggle is Real - September 7
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 45; PM Psalm 47, 48; 1 Kings 16:23-34; Phil. 1:12-30; Mark 16:1-8(9-20)
Today’s Reflection
“I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel” (Phil. 1:12). These words come from the apostle Paul in his letter to his fellow believers in Philippi. What has happened to Paul? He was writing this letter from a prison cell. He wrote several of his letters—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon—while sitting in a jail cell. And as you may imagine, prisons in the ancient Roman Empire were not anywhere you would want to stay for any amount of time. They didn’t even provide food—you had to make arrangements with people on the outside to bring you what you needed.
And yet, I have always found the letter to the Philippians to be one of the most uplifting and encouraging books in holy scripture. How can we square Paul’s imprisonment and his sense of being someone who was always struggling with something, on the one hand, with the overwhelmingly encouraging tone and content of his letters, especially this one to the Philippians?
Paul is honest about challenges he has been and is going through for the sake of Christ. At first, he was going around full of himself and his own sense of authority. Paul was making it his life’s work to persecute Christians—then God decided to strike him down on the road to Damascus with a blinding light and the voice of God coming from somewhere, maybe from above.
But once Paul became a Christian, he was equally committed to advancing the cause of Christ—even to the point of being persecuted himself and taken away to prison. He also talks, in 2 Corinthians 12, of being afflicted over the years with some “thorn in his flesh.” Readers over the years have speculated about what Paul’s thorn could be. Some believe the thorn was guilt over his past sins of persecuting Christians. Others believe he struggled with depression or some other mental illness. Or perhaps, some argue, his thorn was a physical ailment and its long-term effects, anything from malaria or epilepsy to some condition that made it difficult for him to see. But, as one commentator has observed, maybe it’s for the best that we never really know for sure what Paul’s thorn was, as it allows more readers to identify with Paul as someone who, like them, has struggled.
On the one hand, Paul is among the greatest of all evangelists for the cause of Christ. Paul was strong, dynamic, determined, and a person of integrity. And Paul was flawed. Sometimes he came across as kind of full of himself. Often he came across as one who ‘lacked a sensitivity chip,’ as we might say of someone like Paul today. And yet, in his very best moments, he tried to honest about the fact that he was no perfect person. Like all of us, Paul was an imperfect, perfectly loved child of God. He found his confidence in knowing that God loved him, no matter what thorn he carried or how many times he found himself beaten up, shipwrecked, or imprisoned.
We all have struggles. We all have imperfections. Now some of us may be better at hiding our struggles and imperfections, while others of us may be more transparent about our thorns. But know this: every single one of us has been hurt or has struggled in some ways that have influenced the people who we have become. We can choose to see our struggles as weaknesses, or we can choose to see our struggles as sources of strength.
With Paul, we can choose to be honest about our struggles in a way that empowers us to be understanding and compassionate toward others.
Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. Phil. 1: 27-30
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
When have you struggled with something and felt like you had to keep your struggle to yourself? When have you struggled with something and felt like you could share your struggle with someone who would be supportive? When have you been that safe person for someone else?
Daily Challenge
This year we have heard more and more stories of top athletes who have chosen to be honest about their mental health struggles and have decided to take some time away from their sport to take care of their health and wellbeing. Read more about how tennis players Naomi Osaka and Mardy Fish have taken time away to care for themselves and, in so doing, are serving as role models for other athletes and for anyone feeling the pressure of their professional life.