Philippians 1:28 - Don't get spooked

"...and not being spooked in no way by the [ones] opposing, which is to them proof of destruction, but of your salvation, and this from God."

-so, those who follow Jesus and are living out an obsession with Him by standing together and striving together for the faith of the Good News about Him should also not be at all afraid when they encounter opposition to this faith, to the spread of this faith, much less resistance to the very existence of the Empire of Heaven itself.  there is in fact an ancient enemy waging a long war against God - millenia ago he rebelled and was kicked out of heaven down to earth (isaiah 14.12, luke 10.18), whence he has endeavored to establish a dominion of darkness and direct it in a losing battle against the kingdom of light and against the God Who made him (cf daniel 10.8-13, 10.18-21, john 12.31, colossians 1.13, ephesians 6.12).  we are told that he wants to steal, kill, and destroy (john 10.10).  he has blinded the eyes of billions who he is holding captive to do what he wants (ephesians 2.2, acts 26.18, 2timothy 2.26).  he is a clever deceiver and a pathological liar who is bent on tempting people into joining in his rebellion against God (john 8.44, 2john 7, revelation 12.9, cf genesis 3.1-5, matthew 4.1).  he raises up arguments and opposition against the knowledge of God (2corinthians 10.5) and tries to accuse believers and discourage them from devotion to the Lord (cf job 1.6-12, zechariah 3.1, luke 22.31, 1timothy 3.6-7, revelation 12.10).  he wants to scare them into timidity and devour them (1peter 5.8).  there will even be a short time when he will be given temporary authority to wage war against God’s people (revelation 12.12, revelation 13.5-7).  thus there is the incomparable significance of the Good News which Jesus and those who follow Him bring to the world (luke 4.18, luke 5.10, matthew 4.18), and also the need for God’s people to stand together and resist the temptation to give in to fear and run away (ecclesiastes 4.12, ephesians 6.11, 6.13, james 4.7, 1peter 5.9).  truly, greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world (job 1.11-12, 2corinthians 10.4, 1john 4.4, 2timothy 1.7, romans 8.31), because those who trust in Jesus are in fact overcomers.  they are destined for victory! (romans 12.21, 1john 2.14, 5.4-5, revelation 2.7, 2.11, 3.5, 12.11)

-the word paul uses for spooked is pturo, and is only found here in the NT.  it describes the terror experienced by a startled horse.  

(observations from a lifelong horse lover:
    -you never really know what will/might spook a horse (i.e. they spook easily)
    -their reaction when spooked might be to run, jump, or even plant their feet.  they might then turn to face the object with eyes bulging and nostrils flaring
    -TRUST IN THE RIDER HELPS REDUCE SPOOKING!!! (“when i first got annie she would not EVER walk over water. after a while she went anywhere i asked her to”)
    -desensitizing/exposing to many different stimuli helps reduce spooking

a spooked horse will run, or will perhaps fight and rear and kick if it cannot run, but to be sure, it is a flight animal.  they instinctively sense danger and avoid it.  when spooked a horse is unmanageable, and even dangerous to be around - it is definitely unable to serve its master while in that spooked state.  similarly, the instinctive response of believers who encounter opposition while sharing their faith and even just while following Jesus can be to run away, and in that state they of course will not be useful to the Master.  no doubt the opposition faced by those who followed Christ in philippi could have been deadly, as it would still be in many places around the world today.  it would of course be natural for someone to try and avoid a situation which could cost them their life.  even in contemporary western society, where opposition is not likely to be deadly, the temptation is to shrink back from declaring the truth of the Gospel and from standing for Jesus.  paul says don’t do it.  don’t shrink back.  don’t be spooked by those who oppose your attempts to follow Jesus or to tell others about Him.  don’t run away from opportunities to help others learn about Jesus.  AND trust your Rider!  if Jesus is your Rider, give Him the reins - give Him free rein.  He really is in control, He knows what He is doing, He will supply whatever strength is needed to get through it all, and He is working it all for good.

-now, paul gives another reason why God’s people should not be spooked.  he says that the reality of opposition is proof positive (from God Himself) of two things - it is proof that those who are being opposed in following Jesus have definitely been saved, and it is proof that those who are doing the opposing are definitely heading for destruction.  in other words, for those who are living out an obsession with Jesus and spreading the Message of the Empire-Kingdom of Heaven, when they encounter opposition, they can rest assured that they are on the right team - the winning team, and the ones who are standing in opposition to believers - persecuting them, hindering the spread of the Message, etc - they are most assuredly on the wrong team, the one which will ultimately lose.