This morning, as I was drinking my second cup of freshly-ground vanilla nut coffee with fat-free french vanilla creamer, I opened RBC Ministries’ devotional, Our Daily Bread, to today’s date. Highlighted for our reading and meditation was Philippians 1:12-21, and as usual God had something to say to me as I read. In fact, He had so much to say that I missed the end and read on past verse 21 to the beginning of verse 27- “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…”

Chained in a Roman prison and awaiting his eventual execution, Paul the Apostle was writing to his Christian brothers and sisters in Philippi, thanking them for a gift they had sent him for his relief.  Paul wanted to reassure them- “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel.” Paul wanted to explain how that could be- “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the Word of the Lord more courageously and fearlessly.” Paul wanted to provide them with hope- “For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”

As I type this, in the background I can hear a prominent Christian radio ministry informing its supporters that the reduction of financial aid and the weakening economy has regrettably forced it to downsize. Many ministries are facing the same situation and are being forced to their knees, in much the same way Paul the Apostle was forced to his, chained to the confines of his jail cell. And it turns out, his advice of two thousand years ago to the Philippians is still as appropriate as it was then-

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”