-Paul here finally concludes the huge tangent he took after verse one, where he mentioned his imprisonment on behalf of the Gentiles. Being in prison was not some grave misfortune, no tragic mistake. God had a plan (as always), and He planned to get the glorious Good News about Jesus Christ to every nation, to the Gentiles - through Paul. Paul was in prison for declaring the Good News to the Gentiles, yet even in prison the Gospel was not imprisoned. Somehow this circumstance, this occasion of suffering, much as Paul may have wished for it to be different, was part of God's plan. So for this, Paul was all in - he was good with it. And he wanted these believers to be good with it.
-It certainly makes a difference to have a purpose in suffering, to know or to remember the why behind the what. Suffering and hardship will always conspire to slow you down and get you off track, but when there seems to be no reason for it, no higher purpose behind and above it all, that'll suck the wind right out of your sails. Even when you are not the one who is suffering, it is all too human to observe individual suffering or tragedy on a larger scale and ask, " Why? Why, Lord? Why did this happen? Why is this happening? Why did You ALLOW this to happen? Because You could have prevented it, right? You SHOULD have prevented it." And so we call into question the goodness of God, His wisdom or His power, and even His very existence. We see the suffering, we look for a reasonable justification for it, and finding none we find God wanting. Always, no matter what hand we or those around us are dealt, we have a choice, to doubt, or to enter in and believe, to trust that God is and that He is good and working all things together for good. That is the very essence of faith, a daily exercise in seeing what you cannot see, even and especially when you are seeing something which appears to fly in the face of what God has told us. To be sure, even the belief and awareness that God is good and that He has a plan does not usually change the circumstance. What this inner conviction does is to surround our hearts with incomprehensible peace and help us to keep our head up and to keep moving forward.
-So Paul says, Hey, Ephesians, don't lose heart, don't be discouraged, don't blame yourselves, and definitely don't stop what you are doing on account of me, because what I am doing is on account of you, for your glory and the glory of God, for your benefit, for you (and others) to be able to experience the breathtaking goodness of God.
-IS THERE SOME CIRCUMSTANCE IN YOUR LIFE (OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW) RIGHT NOW WHERE IT WOULD HELP YOU TO KNOW/REMEMBER THE WHY BEHIND THE WHAT? OR, HAS THERE BEEN IN THE PAST?
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