A Breath of Fresh Air (Phil. 2:14-16)

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
(Philippians 2:14-16, NKJV)

Again, today’s verses both convict and encourage …

This morning, I woke up feeling pretty lousy. I’m in a play that requires some “physicality,” and my body isn’t terribly happy with me. I really want to whine and complain, but even before I meditated on today’s verses, I just went to the Lord in prayer, thanking Him for the strength I know He’ll give me to accomplish what needs to be done today.

And then I read Paul’s words. I’m to do all things—all things—without complaining. If I believe God is in loving control, I should be able to accept everything without question. If I trust Him to work all things for good (Rom. 8:28), I should rejoice in all things.

But there’s more to these verses. If I really can rejoice in all things without complaining, then God will use me as a light in this “crooked and perverse generation.” (And, by the way, don’t you love how relevant the Bible is today? Paul could easily have been writing about the US in 2010.)

I love The Message’s paraphrase of verse 15:

Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night …

Don’t you want to be a “breath of fresh air”? Don’t you want to “provide … a glimpse of good living and of the living God”?

We can be that light in this world. I know sometimes it seems things are too corrupt, too perverse, too squalid and polluted. But if we praise God through the difficult times, if we strive to love each other—and the people in this world—He will work through us.