Steven Furtick — It's Not Over
Philippians 1:15, Paul speaking, "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here"... Remember, I'm where I'm supposed to be, regardless of how I got here, I was put here. That's a way of seeing life, that will set you free from the need to understand all of the events as they're happening. Just to decide in advance: wherever I end up, that must be where God has me. Now, this can get dangerous, because you can end up blaming God's sovereignty for your lack of responsibility. You know, I lost the job, I guess God wanted me to lose the job, I guess God wanted you to show up on time.
And so, let's don't get carried away, but when the situation is out of my control, it's not out of God's hands, amen. Yeah, I feel the Spirit of God on that, because when he says "I'm put here", that's one way of seeing it, he's positioned, and he sees himself as stationed rather than seeing himself as stuck. So, the location doesn't change, but the lens he views his situation through is changing through the years, and since he's old now, he has this great perspective, and we get in on it, through this letter, that he wrote to the Philippian church.
So, some people like me and some don't, but he says, "The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But..." - and this has been my mantra all week - "what does it matter"?