Why or What?
I have found our Sunday morning walk through the book of Philippians to be personally challenging. As Christians when we experience difficult times in our lives, we often ask God, “Why?” Perhaps the better question should be, “What?”
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi about joy during a time in his life when he was a prisoner in Rome. He was facing possible execution. This certainly was a difficult time in his life, and yet we find him encouraging the Philippians. One reason Paul was able to maintain his joyful outlook on life was because he did not ask God, “Why?,” or, “Why me?” Instead Paul asked, “What?” Craig Groeschel suggests we ask ourselves the following “What” questions during difficult times:
What is God doing in my situation?
What is God’s purpose for me in this?
What does God want to show me?
What does God want to do through this situation?
The “What” questions as opposed to the “Why” questions help us look at our life from an eternal perspective rather than a inward focused “O poor me” response to life. Paul had learned how to put his trust in God in every situation he faced in life. He had learned the secret of contentment.
But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:6–8 NASB).
How about you? When you find yourself in a hard place in life, do you ask God “Why?” or “What?” In the middle of difficulties how do you keep an eternal perspective on life?
Recently I read a book called "change your question change your life", by Marley Adam. It has the same concept.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have been asking "why" instead of "what". thank you for helping me see things differently. The Lord who helped Paul to stand faithfully in the middle of dungeon, the same lord will help us to be content, and give us the answer for the "what".
Our beliefs and our thoughts often determine how we live our lives. A lot of problems we struggle with are the result of incorrect thinking. We ask the "why" questions because of our incomplete or incorrect understanding of God. When we ask the "what" questions it helps us look beyond our own little world and see things from God's perspective.
ReplyDeleteAs I have studied the prison epistles, one of the things that has always encouraged me is that the apostle Paul remained unshakeable, resolute, steadfast in his conviction that he was in the will of God, even during times and seasons of great adversity. On top of that, Paul often took those occasions to express his sense of joy. In fact, in Philippians alone there are six references to joy. To me this is important because. Why? Because during the early days of the church, the body of Christ suffered persecution in various forms, and it would see me to, that it would have been very important for the body of Christ to possess revelatory insight into why that was happening, and how to properly respond to those instances. That is why we not only have Paul teaching about the connection between knowing and living for Christ and enduring suffering, but we also have others, such as James and Peter teaching on that link as well (James 1:2, 1 Peter 4:12-19). Moreover, would makes Paul’s teachings on being joy-full or joy-filled during times of trial and tribulation so powerful, is that he was literally in the throes of it while teaching about it! Think of how that must have comforted and motivated those on the receiving end of Paul’s letters while they themselves were also going through trying times. But let me move on to another point. I was also encouraged by Pastor Gary pointing out that our minds are important when it comes to shaping or affecting how we live our lives. I have had my mind on the subject of the mind (lol) for some time now. In fact, I am studying 10 different books on the subject of the mind. It is a mind-blowing study (lol). But seriously, consider this: From the book of Romans – Revelation there are 44 references to the mind. And in what I have read and studied, it becomes very clear that we must take the Apostle Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 4:23 – to be renewed in our minds – very seriously. The way I see it, Word and Spirit of God, must overhaul our entire mental framework so that we are able to comprehend, and make faithful application of spiritual truth. That is why I shared this with COTR during one of the times I preached - the Lord once said to me – “revelation without application is just good information. But revelation with application produces total transformation or renovation.” I will never forget that. So, as I read Paul’s epistles, I see the combination of revelation and application resulting in transformation in his life and in the lives of his understudies. And prayerfully, that is what is happening in our lives as Pastor Gary ministers out of the book of Philippians.
ReplyDeleteBlessings - john