In his letter to the Philippians, Paul spoke of the silver lining in his bonds. Specifically, the bonds became his access to the palaces of kings and nobles where he stoutly presented and defended the gospel. Moreover, the bonds were a means of inspiration to the brethren who rose to proclaim the gospel as Paul was doing. The aftermath of what happened to Paul, though negative on the surface, ended up advancing the very purpose of God for his life.

In the previous meditation, we noted that Jesus’ delay in coming to the rescue of Lazarus was not to frustrate the family. It was all designed by heaven to bring maximum glory to God as we shall see shortly. Martha and Mary as well as others standing by must have been excited when Lazarus was raised back to life. However, that was not the chief aim of that miracle. Remember that we said recently that the chief aim of all of God’s operations on earth is for Him to be glorified. That was what happened when this miracle took place. Many people believed in Jesus as the Son of the Living God and the Saviour of the world as a result of that miracle. Now, I do not think that there is any better way by which God gets glory than having another soul saved. Regardless of what you have to deal with, see how to tailor it towards reaching another soul for God. You can be sure that when your efforts are geared at glorifying God, He will not leave you in shame either. Here we see that miracles are to the gospel what worms are to fishermen. They are baits to bring many more sons to the Kingdom.