A Journey Through Ephesians… 3:12-13

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Ephesians 3:12-13

I want to skip verse 12 and go straight to 13 today. I think it gets overlooked.

I will be honest, until now I didn’t fully understand what I am about to explain. Or try to explain, anyway.

I believe the reason Paul says “not to be discouraged” is because he wants to paint his suffering in a new light. A positive light. Why is this important?

Think about it. What was Paul encouraging them to do? Share the Gospel. Deepen their faith in Christ. Have peace with one another. And what was the example of Paul’s life in this present moment? Suffering. Imprisonment. Confinement. If I were reading his letter from Ephesus I might be thinking, “Is Paul’s situation a foreshadowing of MY own fate? Prison?! Ummmm, let me reconsider.”

Right?!

Instead, he writes to them about boldness and courage and confidence and hope. And as he writes about all these things, he wants them to see his hardships in a whole new way. For their benefit. Their glory. What he writes will help us to do the same: to lift our eyes, and to see our own circumstances in light of the gospel of Christ.

And verse 12 is a beautiful compliment to hard circumstances – do you see it now? Yes, we will ALL face hardship, warfare, temptation, accusation, dissension, grief …. but no MATTER where you are “through faith in Christ you may approach God with freedom and confidence.” With boldness, authority, access. As the BELOVED of God, not a mere servant.

Sweet Paul. He loved these people so much… he wanted to calm their fears and empower their faith.

And sitting here today, typing away in my bathrobe, a middle-age mom in East Tennessee, he is doing the same for me.

We can face anything friends. We have faith and full access to God. Go enter in. It’s all going to be ok.