One simple word can adjust any difficulty

Have any "actually" people in your life?

You've likely encountered them. They show up at the tail end of a conversation. Here's their grand entrance: "Well actually..." I've always associated the use of that phrase with people who think they know-it-all (and then I run the other direction).

But in the midst of some recent difficulties, the Apostle Paul has me thinking a bit differently.

There's an actually in the middle of every apparently.

You probably don't have to think hard to come up with a less-than-ideal situation in life, especially after these past couple years.

No doubt you've formed a narrative about the situation. If left to human nature, that narrative only accelerates downhill. And the perspective you need is that of the person you'd least like to hear from: the know-it-all.

Not the annoying know-it-all. The actual know-it-all.

As Paul penned the words "...what has happened to me has actually served..." remember he was chained, imprisoned, and surrounded by guards. Some people know this in a literal sense. Everyone knows it in a figurative sense.

His use of the word actually should nudge us toward a different perspective on any situation.

'Actually' unchains us from ourselves.

Paul had the incredible insight to see his physical situation from God's perspective.

From his own point of view, Paul was chained. But from God's point of view? His chains opened the door to three things:

1. Proximity to people (guards) he wouldn't have otherwise encountered.

2. Encouragement to onlookers watching his situation.

3. The spread of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Any chains you've experienced in the midst of difficulty open the door to those exact same things. If you've entrusted your life to Jesus, you know what Paul knew:

You aren't chained to your situation. It's actually chained to you.

Until next time,

Nathan