What is it, Actually?

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel,”

Philippians 1:12 CSB

What has happened to me has actually advanced the Gospel…

I know how it appears, but what is it, actually?

I wonder right now what’s actually happening in and through me. What’s actually happening around me and within me.

I know what I see. I know what I’ve come to believe. I know how many of us have been trained to see the worst in others. The worst in others, and the worst in our circumstances. The negative in life often calls out for attention louder than the positive. We tend to see the disparaging end rather than the beautiful process of situations.

I want to start asking myself a question, though…

When I’m face something tough. When someone disagrees with me. When I have a bad day. When God doesn’t seem to be answering my prayer. When worry is knocking on the door of my heart. When anxiety yells at my mind…

I’m thankful that God specializes in using things in ways they don’t appear. That he thinks on a greater scale. That his plan is beyond my comprehension. That he does things in ways I’d never dream.

What I see isn’t all there is. What I feel isn’t always true. What I dismiss, God rescues. What I assume has no hope, God has a plan.

WHAT IS IT, ACTUALLY?

I wonder how that simple question… in the face of life, worries, struggles, blessings, pain, and joy…