Articles
Serving God Where We Are
The city of Rome was the nerve center of the 1st century world. All roads led to Rome; all significant decisions were made in Rome; all cities feared Rome. Yet even in the imperial capital, amid the political intrigue, the idolatrous temples and the blood sport, Christianity took root and began to grow. It is not recorded how faith first came to Rome, but by the time Paul wrote to the church in about AD 55-59, numerous saints were living there (Rom. 16:3-16). Some were even among Nero’s palace guard (Philip. 1:13).
Since Paul had a “deep concern for all the churches” (II Cor. 11:28), he was interested in the welfare of the brethren in Rome. He expressed his “great desire these many years to come to you” (Rom. 15:23). He confessed to them “that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established.” (Rom. 1:9-11).
So why hadn’t Paul gone to Rome earlier? Concerning his work he says, “I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named” (Rom. 15:20), and in view of his diligent pursuit of this objective, God had not opened the door of opportunity for Paul to travel to Rome. God had work for him to do elsewhere, so Paul set aside his personal wishes and focused upon the task at hand.
But Paul asserted “that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). That is, he had fulfilled his assignment and was now ready to set his sights upon Rome. Little did he know that he would go in chains.
At different times in life, we find ourselves in various situations, some desirable and some not. Perhaps a job takes us to a large city in the north when we prefer a small town in the south. Caring for an ailing mate or parent may hinder our ability to serve God in other ways. We may be asked to teach an age group with which we are not comfortable. Whatever the specific case, we’re often in a place we’d rather not be, or we wish to be somewhere other than where we are. What should we do in times like these?
Look for the bright side. Instead of lamenting our lack of fortune, we must train ourselves to find the blessings and advantages inherent in our situation. In the midst of his Roman imprisonment, Paul suffered the added insult of men who “preach Christ even from envy and strife ... supposing to add affliction to my chains” (Philip. 1:15-16). How did Paul view this? “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (Philip. 1:18). Life is rarely pitch black. There’s usually a ray of light shining somewhere.
Grow where you are planted. Growth of character often comes from dealing with stressful situations. Each of life’s episodes can be added to our storehouse of experience. From this storehouse wisdom can be drawn as future complications arise.
Draw closer to God. Surely Paul and Silas would have rather been anywhere but a Philippian prison, bruised and aching from the unjust beating they had received (Acts 16:22-24). So what did they do? “At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns” (Acts 16:25). The circumstances of life often are out of our control. All God expects of us in such situations is to do the best we can where we are.
(Reprinted from Hueytown church bulletin, Feb. 18, 2001)
