Prison

One thing I did not mention in my background summary of Ephesians (http://www.youthrevolution.ca/Bible%20Reading/backgroundseptember.pdf) is that Paul wrote this book from prison. In Ephesians 3:1 Paul indicates his present status as a prisoner. However one can easily gloss over this part to get to the essential point of his teachings. Yet the fact that he is a prisoner is just as important as his message.

See Paul was called to suffer for Christ. When God appeared to him on the Damascus road encounter (Acts 9), God prophesied to Paul that he would suffer greatly for the cause of the Gospel.
Thus Paul finds himself in a Roman jail, writing. Not writing the governor for a pardon, not writing his friends to petition his freedom, but instead writing Ephesians, Colossians and many other books of his corpus.

Can we learn from Paul? What do you do in your times of trial and persecution? Do you abort (or pause) mission as you take care of your own stuff. You and I probably know many who have taken a
‘break’ from God or church. Life’s trials have rail-roaded them from their once passionate and focused mission for God. Prison is meant to get the best out of us, not the worst. Suffering and trials are supposed to perfect us, cleaning us up, sharpening us to do a better job for the kingdom (James 1:1-5).
What is your prison? What trials are you currently in? How did you handle them?

So today, be like Paul and embrace prison. Embrace your place of suffering. Rejoice in your trials. Ask God what can you learn from this season. But whatever you do, don’t get worse, get better. Keep pushing. Keep the fire burning. Keep ministering, and stay on course on the mission of God for your life.