To Encourage You

Ephesians 1:7-10 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Have you ever been stuck in a rut? Does life seem like the same old thing over and over again? Do you wonder where it’s all going, this mundane, everyday world in which we are living? If so, perhaps it would be a good time for a different perspective.

Things can look so different depending on the location from which we view them. That’s one of the most wonderful things about the Word of God. Here we have the words of people like Paul, who wrote several of his letters from a dungeon in Rome. In that drudgery, we see some of the most glorious words ever written by man. Paul so often is so enthralled as he meditates on the wonders of Jesus that he seems to be speaking from heaven, not earth. It is from the drudgery of prison that he speaks about things like the great mysteries that God had revealed to him. Mysteries in this context are things that only God knows, and those to whom He has chosen to reveal those things. The Bible is full of them.

In the verses above, Paul tells us where all things are headed because of the great plan of God, a plan that can never be subverted or disrupted for God does what He wills come what may from those who would foolishly oppose Him. And one of the great things coming is a glorious kingdom when all Heaven and earth are united under the authority and rule of Christ. Paul knew that in that kingdom he wouldn’t be suffering in a prison. He knew that in that kingdom God has planned a glorious inheritance for every believer. It’s an inheritance of everything that is God’s, for we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). As Paul sat there in prison, he wasn’t looking at the prison walls. His eyes were on the joy of heaven of which he was certain because he knew Christ. His mind was meditating on the glories of the Christ he knew, and the glories to come as a result, rather than on his suffering at that moment. He knew that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). It was a glory guaranteed to all those who had put their hope in Christ. It’s a glory that Paul is experiencing right now, and that we will experience one day as well if we have put our faith in Christ.

May God give us such a glorious perspective no matter what we are dealing with at this present time. May He help us to have the view of our life, no matter how mundane, so that we “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2), for most certainly that’s where every believer is headed, no matter what our situation in life right now.