Philemon 1:15-16
For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Truth: Bad circumstances are intended for spiritual blessings
The book of Philemon was written by Paul to a member of the Body of Christ ... Philemon. At one time Philemon had a slave working for him, named Onesimus. Since there were a variety of "slave-master" relationships, we don't know the exact details of the Philemon-Onesimus relationship. What we do know is that Onesimus ran away from Philemon and, we assumed, landed in the same prison where Paul was detained. And there you have it. Paul was in prison for standing for his faith and it runs into a run-away-slave ... running away from a man Paul knew. What are the chances? Paul knew his purpose in life. It was to point others to Christ. Can you imagine Onesimus arriving in prison, playing the victim and complaining to Paul about his "master" (the whole time not realizing that it was someone Paul had won to Christ). Perhaps Philemon's treatment of Onesimus was less than stellar ... Paul did write to MANY believers about their relationships with their "slaves" and to many slaves in their relationship to their "masters." It would not be unusual for Onesimus to have some legitimate complaints about Philemon. It would not be unusual to believe that Onesimus was an unfaithful and unworthy slave, either. God had put Paul and Onesimus together and Paul had led him to the Lord. Did Philemon, earlier, read one of Paul's letters about slaves and begin a prayer life about the disobedient slave? As we read further in the letter we discover that Onesimus must have wrong Philemon and owed him something ... something Paul was willing to now pay. The key here is that the bad circumstances of Paul placed into prison for his faith; of Philemon losing a laborer for his work causing him a lost in productivity; Onesimus on the run and tossed into prison, all worked out to the faith of Onesimus and, now, a chance for Philemon to show his Biblical love. In our world today it would be easy to see these circumstances as bad luck, mis-fortune, or poor karma. Yet, Paul makes the above statement that "perhaps" this is why Onesimus ran away ... so that Paul could lead him to the Lord and now Philemon had a brother, not a slave. Bad circumstances are intended for spiritual blessings ... we just often miss them because we are focused on the circumstances, not the God behind them.
No comments:
Post a Comment