I recently met a single mom that God has brought through some tremendous trials.  She has overcome addictions, abuse and host of incredible challenges. She’s also found tremendous strength in her faith through the support of Christians around her.   It was really exciting to observe that she is maturing in her faith. It was so visible through her attitude about herself and her desire to change future behavior.  I loved hearing her describe the challenges she faced as new ways she could honor God with her life and with her choices.

What she was beginning to realize is that God can use your obstacles as opportunities!

It make me think of Philippians 1:12

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

You see, often we get so stuck on the why (why me? why now? why God?) that we forget to ask what. In this verse Paul is finding his answer for the why question by asking, “What God is doing?”

We know from Acts 28 Paul was in prison for two years. This wasn’t a quick overnight stay and Paul is saying to his friends, “what has happened to me served to advance the gospel.”

So if God is going to use our obstacles as opportunities we have got to learn to ask what.

• What is God doing?

• What does God want to show me?

• What is God’s purpose?

• What is God going to do through this?

In Paul’s situation he says that using his imprisonment to “advance” the gospel. In Greek, that word is a huge key word to understanding what Paul is getting at!

Advance – prokope (prok-op-ay’) pioneer advance, progress of an army or expedition.

Basically, the word was used as someone would clear the path of anything in the way so that an army could progress into battle.  By using it, it’s like Paul is saying he’s clearing the path so that he and others could more effectively spread the message of Jesus.

He goes on to say, “I am in chains for Christ.”

Instead of asking God, “Why am I in prison?” Paul is asking, “What can I do while in prison?”  Guess what he does, the same thing he does while in jail in Philippi. He starts talking with the soldiers he has access to. Every six hours when shift change occurs he gets a new audience! The very chains that were used to restrict Paul were now being used to release Paul to do what he always dreamed of.

What are the chains in your life? What is it that you are experiencing that has you asking God “Why?” The pressure and stress that you are feeling from your situation that is restricting you… MAY BE THE VERY THING GOD USES TO RELEASE YOU.

We have to ask God the “what” question to discover the answer to our “why” question.

Thank God for others like Donald Miller that put things in perspective.  After stewing in frustration all afternoon I read his blog post (you can find the original here) and I’ve re-posted it here for your convenience. 

Back in the day, the comment Pat Robertsonmade today would have infuriated me. Robertson essentially blamed the devastation that took place in Haiti yesterday on the idea that, generations ago, people in Haiti sold their souls to the Devil and are now paying for it. I’m reminded of a similar comment made in a debate on CNN, in which yet another religious figure blamed the devastation in New Orleans following Katrina on the debauchery that took place in that town. Luckily, or perhaps providentially, Tony Campolo was also on the show and pointed out that the French Quarter was fine, that it was low-income minorities who were devastated, and then asked his fellow guest point blank whether God was angry with low-income minorities. The other guest really didn’t know what to say. Any answer would have painted him a loon.

Regardless, Robertson’s comments further divide people of faith from, well, people of faith. I don’t want to debate the theological ramifications of Robertson’s comments, I only want to point out some perspectives that cause me to no longer be angry with him, and rather, to pity him. I consider this a more mature perspective than I would have had even a few years ago. Here are a few perspectives that, hopefully, will keep you from throwing a stapler through a wall:

• Many controlling personalities are drawn to the idea of a severe, vengeance oriented God. Robertson must have read a book about Haiti at one point, but it lacked civility to cite that book and espouse an absurd theological idea on television, without context for both. It was reactionary, and came off as a manifestation of his personality, not his theology. Regardless, it was sadly irresponsible for him to make such a devastatingly shocking statement in the context of great hurt. Can you imagine giving the eulogy at a funeral and starting out by saying “before I tell you about God’s grace, let me make it clear that little Johnny deserved to die because he stole candy from a store.” There is something wrong with a person who would do this. These people are often, themselves, controlling. They are wired to build empires, and in order to build empires you have to get people to do what you say, and if you have God standing behind you threatening hurt and pain, you can motivate people. I’ve heard pastors pray and call other men cowards, get angry from the pulpit, yell, belittle other Christian pastors who don’t agree with them, fire people who will not submit to them, surround themselves with yes men and so on. Sadly, they never point the finger at themselves. It’s always YOU or THEM who are the sinners. When they need God’s grace, they usually confess to studying too hard or caring too much. But compassion comes when you realize, and it doesn’t take long to see it, that this person is afraid that if he gives anybody else a free will, they will use it against them. Their mantra is: If I don’t control people, they won’t love me.So what Robertson was really saying was “We are going to help you, but you deserved this because you didn’t do what God asked.” They were projecting their way of seeing the world onto God. No, what we all deserve is death, and Christ paid that for us. We live in the New Testament, not the old. Lets spread God’s unconditional love.

• Another truth that gives me a more grounded perspective on Pat Robertson is that he really doesn’t represent most conservatives. I come from a politically and religiously conservative family, and many, many of my friends are very conservative, and all of them would be in shock at Robertson’s statements. The media would have Robertson represent all Christians, or perhaps all conservatives, but the idea is absurd. It’s also important to let people know we think it’s absurd.

• I’ve also found that the more I trust in Christ’s redemption to be sufficient, the less overtly religious I am. And, quite honestly, the more suspect overtly religious people become to me. When I’m with somebody who talks zealously about faith, about Jesus, about the Bible, after a while, I find myself wondering whether or not their faith is strong at all. For instance, if I were with somebody who kept talking about how much they loved their wife, going on loudly and profusely, intuitively I would wonder whether or not they were struggling in their marriage. I would wonder whether they were trying to convince me they loved their wife, or if they were just trying to convince themselves. Faith in Christ, for me, is similar. It’s intimate and private. I’m not comfortable giving loud prayers. I’m more comfortable giving quiet prayers, intimate prayers. Often alone, in fact. Of course there is a time for proclamations, but that’s the key, isn’t it? There’s a time. I love that the New Testament is mostly intimate letters written to small groups of people who met in homes. I like the quiet authenticity of our faith. Robertson’s loudness and shock-jock verbiage seems strange and oddly uncompassionate. It felt like he was trying to tell us how tough he was, not how compassionate God is.

An appropriate response to Haiti:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..”