The Gospel in Everyday Life
Text: Philemon 17-21

Life in the real world is complicated and messy, filled with awkward situations and difficult circumstances. My "wardrobe malfunction" during the sermon (you had to be there) is a lighthearted reminder of this truth. But we all have faced serious life issues such as death, sexual abuse, disease, divorce, financial debt, bankruptcy, doubts, depression, job loss, and discouragement. Life can be very hard.

The narrative of Philemon illustrates this truth:

• Paul is in prison.
• Onesimus is a slave.
• Onesimus becomes a fugitive slave.
• Paul encouraged him to return to his master.
• Paul appeals to Philemon to not only accept Onesimus back and graciously forgive him but to accept him back as a brother in Christ.
• Paul also appeals to Philemon to treat Onesimus the way he would treat Paul. The implication seems obvious—Philemon should free him.

But Philemon shows me that God is in control, even in the hard and unpredictable things of life. The question is, will we trust Him?

Yesterday, during the sermon I asked, "Why can we trust God for our eternal life yet struggle so much to trust Him in the messes of everyday life?" After worship, I had a brief conversation with one of our members about this statement, and it prompted me to consider why this is often true. Maybe an illustration will help:

I knew Jesus was my only hope when I realized I needed salvation. The chasm between God and me was far too wide. I couldn't make it on my own. I had to trust Jesus!

Fast forward. Everyday life is often comfortable. I rarely need Jesus to show up because the "chasm" between me and a "successful" day looks pretty manageable. I can make it on my own.

I only become desperate for Jesus to show up when really hard, messy, and unexpected things enter my life.

But God wants us to trust Him continually. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6). "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

This continual dependence was modeled by Jesus Himself:

• “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me" (John 5:30).
• "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35).
• "So Jesus said to them, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me'" (John 8:28).

The world says, "Follow your heart." God says, "Trust me and believe what I say is true." Could it be that trusting God in each and every step of our journey would not only increase our faith but would make the mundane things of life suddenly blossom with kingdom opportunities? Everyday life is lived for His glory and our good! Something to consider.