It’s not surprising that so much hatred exists when we are pounded 24/7 with inflammatory rhetoric by a press eager to accuse police of racism and attributing every arrest they make as an assault on innocent men and women of a different color. Sadly our presidential election and other influnces have also fanned those flames, all too often before the facts of the cases were even known.
Is what we are experiencing the beginning of another civil war? What can be done to avert it?
When Paul was establishing a church in Philippi there was no Jewish sanctuary. And since there was nowhere for them to worship, he found a group of women gathered on the bank of the Gangites River where they had assembled and were praying. One was a prosperous Gentile businesswoman named Lydia. She worshipped the God of the Jews, but knew nothing about Jesus and it was Paul who led her to His saving grace.
Lydia responded with faith and after receiving Christ her home became the gathering place of the early converts, and it was this little home church that was instrumental in Philippi becoming the first European city to receive the gospel of Christ from Paul.
When I was full of evil, hate, and bitterness and far from the Lord, I was in the hospital recovering from a horrific car crash and another lady named Lydia, (an African American woman), loaned me her personal Bible to read. I read a passage Philippians 4:13 which stated that I could do all things through Christ who strengthened me, and upon reading that passage, I told Lydia it was nothing but a lie and that I was too far gone to change. She forcefully took issue that Jesus was God and could do anything He wanted.
The love that I read about in the Bible that Jesus displayed to all whom He met, combined with Lydia’s frank logic resonated with me, and I became a believer and immediately and was one of just a few to set out to change my life through the strength of Jesus (and I did).
I’ve never forgotten the lesson that Lydia taught me that day. Jesus is God and all things are possible through God. In Philippi as with other cities during those times, women were not treated equally to men, and in fact were not held in high esteem at all, and yet this businesswoman, Lydia, was instrumental in helping Paul establish the first European church. The Lord only knows how many converts evolved out of it. Faith and prayer were the cornerstones of radical change and still are today. From such an unlikely beginning the world was changed and here I am 2000 years later writing about Paul, Lydia, faith, and how all things are possible through Jesus Christ.
Yes we live in troubled times, but so do other saints. Paul suffered his first imprisonment in Rome some years after establishing the church at Philippi. Even though he was being persecuted for his evangelism and he suffered awful conditions with no knowledge of his ultimate fate, God used Paul to advance the gospel and enable him to reach people he might otherwise not be able to reach. Paul deeply loved this church and the feeling was mutual from his congregation. When they sent an emissary to visit with Paul in prison he wanted them to look at his difficult circumstances and be encouraged and hopeful and to refocus their lives on Jesus to help them through their difficult circumstances.
We can read this little book of Philippians in short order. If you are down and discouraged by a world seemingly gone mad, I urge you to read it. Today we must remain confident, positive, hopeful, and encouraged in Jesus just as Paul implored the early church to do. We the believers in Christ must remain unified and know that we know that God will use our current dilemma to refocus eyes on Jesus and good will certainly come from it. Pray and have faith like the two Lydia’s mentioned in this post. Remember nothing is impossible for the Lord.
Matt. 19:26
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!