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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. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14)

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It is easy to become discouraged.\xa0 There is a constant flood of bad news that we confront each day:\xa0 Another shooting. Another country that bursts into internal conflict and war. Another disaster. Another political or cultural fight that sours our hope. Another health scare in our own family.\xa0 How quickly our horizon can become clouded with nothing but bad news. \xa0We begin to despair.\xa0

There is nothing new under the sun, of course.\xa0\xa0Even though we get more information faster and from further away, the Philippians certainly had their own flow of bad news. This new little Christian community was under threat and ostracized from their pagan neighbours already, and now news comes that their founding pastor, Paul, is in prison. \xa0If Paul was jailed\u2014when would their time come?\xa0 Was it really worth it to follow this Jesus?

Suffering, or a prolonged exposure to the suffering of others (personally or through the news) can very quickly lead to despair and some pretty hard questions.\xa0 Fear begins to creep in.\xa0 Trust begins to erode.\xa0

Paul has already attempted to cut this hopelessness off at the roots by beginning his letter with prayers of thanks and joy for the Philippians.\xa0 Here he goes a step further by addressing the situation directly.\xa0 Yes, he\u2019s in prison.\xa0 But \u201cI want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel,\u201d he writes. \xa0Paul\u2019s chains are not what they seem.\xa0 They have become an opportunity for witness\u2014an opportunity to live in the humble, self-giving way of Christ\u2014and others have taken notice.\xa0 Not only that, but the other Christians in the city\u2014seeing that some of the worst of their fears have already happened in Paul\u2019s imprisonment\u2014are now emboldened to risk losing more for Jesus\u2019 sake, the one who gave everything up for them.\xa0

Hopelessness, despair, and fear are always creeping up on us.\xa0 It is easy to become discouraged.\xa0 But the chains of Paul flip the narrative.\xa0 Paul lives in the power of Jesus, has everything he needs in Jesus, and remains in communion with the church through Jesus.\xa0 What might have become a context of lost hope now becomes the launching pad for it.\xa0 Because Jesus is alive, Paul does not need to fear death.\xa0 Because Jesus is alive, Paul has a good word of hope and life to speak, even to his captors.\xa0

Paul had already lost all things in Jesus, what more could Caesar do to him?\xa0 In that place, Paul was free to live for Jesus with joy and thanks, despite his chains\u2014bearing an uncommon word of hope to all.\xa0 And that utterly unexpected, counter-cultural witness to Jesus in the way of Jesus, is what turned heads and empowered the church.

These verses come to us to encourage us.\xa0 As Paul writes elsewhere: nothing can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus.\xa0 And as Jesus himself says: \u201cI am with you always, to the very end of the age.\u201d\xa0 So as with Paul in his chains, take heart today and do not be afraid\u2014Jesus is with you, no matter the suffering you face.

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