Today we see that even the great Apostle Paul was stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak (v.23a). On the one hand, he earnestly wants to be in the presence of his Lord and Saviour (v.23b), but on the other he wants to be around to minister to and encourage the Philippians (vv.24-25). He wants to give them even more reason to glory in Christ Jesus (v.26), and this did happen on his release from prison, so I read, when he visited them again.
If someone used so powerfully and tangibly of God – Paul wrote what many consider the most important letters in history, just let that soak in for a moment – could find himself caught in a conundrum of not knowing what to do or where to want to go, maybe it’s time for you to give yourself a break? If you’ve been worrying and stressing about where to go, who to be, how to do X/Y/Z, consider that Paul went through the very same thing here.
His overriding desire, though, was that he wanted to serve others (vv.24-26), and to glorify Jesus. If you are in the same place today, or the next time you find yourself in the same place – the place of needing to make a pretty big decision – take the focus off yourself and ponder it like Paul; what would be the best decision for those around me, and what would be the best decision to cause God to be glorified?
James Travis 