Today’s devotion is based on Philippians 1:12-30: Joy in the Journey: Week 2 (WATCH HERE)
Philippians 1:12–13 (NIV): “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.”
Pain is never something we choose. When suffering invades our lives it can feel senseless, heavy, and often lonely. We cry out to God, asking “Why?” and get frustrated when we don’t get an immediate answer.
The apostle Paul, writing from a Roman prison cell, shows us that pain is not wasted when we ask a different question than “Why?” When we ask “What is God’s purpose?” we begin to see Christ, even in the tough circumstances.
In Philippians 1:12–13, Paul offers an astonishing perspective on his suffering. He wants the believers in Philippi to know that his imprisonment, far from being a setback, has actually advanced the gospel. That word—”advanced”—is a military term, describing a pioneer force cutting through the wilderness to forge a new path or a nautical term of a ship moving through rough waters. Paul isn’t just enduring prison; he’s recognizing that his hardship is being used by God to break new ground.
It’s easy to miss the radical nature of Paul’s mindset. He isn’t asking to be rescued from prison, Rather, he’s celebrating what God is doing through it. For Paul, prison was not a detour; it was a divine assignment. The result? The entire palace guard, and many others, came to understand that Paul wasn’t just any prisoner. He was in chains for Christ.
As God had purpose in Paul’s pain, so He has purpose in yours, too.
You may not be locked behind physical bars, but maybe you’re in a painful season where you feel stuck, emotionally, financially, relationally, or spiritually. Maybe you’re carrying burdens few people see or understand. Like Paul, you may be tempted to view your current struggle as a barrier to your joy.
But what if your pain is the very platform God wants to use?
Paul’s situation was unjust. He had committed no crime. And yet, God used his confinement as a way to reach an elite group of Roman soldiers, men who may never have heard the gospel otherwise. The painful context of Paul’s life became the very conduit through which others encountered Christ.
Pain, in God’s hands, is never purposeless.
We often think God uses us most when we’re strong and thriving. But Scripture shows that He often works powerfully through brokenness, weakness, and difficulty. It’s in those places that His power and presence are most clearly seen. So what about you?
What pain are you carrying today? What situation feels like a prison, keeping you from the life you imagined?
Could it be that God is doing something beneath the surface?
It may not be clear now, but the promise of Scripture is this: “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). That includes the tears, the disappointments, and the delays.
Your pain can have purpose, not because it’s good in itself, but because God is good and He knows how to use even the worst parts of our story to shine the light of Christ.
Like Paul, you may not choose the chains. But you can choose the perspective. You can choose to trust that God is working, even here, even now.
And one day, you may look back and say, “What happened to me actually served to advance the gospel.”
Apply: What is the hardship you are facing today that God desires to give you a perspective of purpose, even in the middle of the pain?
Prayer: Lord, thank You for never wasting our pain. Help us to trust You when life hurts and to believe that You have purpose in every part of our story. Use our struggles to shine the light of Christ to those around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.