Can being "stuck" ever bring blessing?

 
This morning in my personal time with God, I moved to the New Testament and began reading the letter to the Philippians. Paul is writing the letter from prison - circumstances that look like a defeat and a hindrance to his being able to preach the gospel. Yet he writes in verse 12, "I want you to know that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news." He's referring of course to the fact that the whole imperial guard knows he's in chains for his faith.

I'm not literally imprisoned like Paul was, but I've had a heavy sense of being "imprisoned" by circumstances, feeling "stuck" because my situation of homelessness seems to have been an obstacle to ministry plans that I believed God had for me this year. I wasn't able to travel to a European leaders' gathering in the UK or to a KKI international leaders' gathering in the USA. I was prevented from accepting an invitation to teach in the Child and Youth Ministry School in Eastern Europe, and now it also looks as if I also won't be able to travel to Switzerland next month to teach in the same PCYM school there. 

But is my "captivity" advancing the gospel or being an obstacle to it? It certainly feels to me as if my circumstances are hindering my ministry, rather than advancing it. It feels as if my situation is a negative testimony of God's ability to care and provide for me.  My situation is not unique to me (see the post below this one) but as my friends and neighbours look on, they're not exactly seeing any evidence that God is bigger than our circumstances (something that I believe with all my heart.)

Paul believes that the prayers of his friends and the work of the Holy Spirit will bring about a good outcome in the end. (Phil 1: 19)

But, in vs 20, he says that he refuses to be ashamed; he knows that his life can still bring glory to God, even if it ends in the apparent defeat of his being put to death. "Don't be intimidated," he tells the believers in vs 28 - 29. Even our struggles and suffering are a privilege as we follow Jesus.

Today I got a text message from an old neighbour - someone that I've seen very little over the past two or three years. "I know that God is with you," she wrote, "and you'll always have a friend in me." That message came as a complete surprise.

On Sunday, my former neighbour, Matilde, send me a little picture (here on the right) which says, "Trust in God's plans for your life. He doesn't need your help; He just needs your faith to activate them. God bless you."

Last week, when I invited Matilde and Marta for lunch, I prayed to give thanks before we ate the meal. Just as I finished my prayer, Matilde also spoke up: "And God, we ask you to provide a house for Barbara and the animals that will be suitable for the long term." I almost couldn't believe my ears... as I heard my not-yet-believing neighbour pray out loud at the table.

Other non-believing friends and neighbours have also been making comments like, "God will give you a miracle at the right time," or, "I'm praying for you."

Yes, even as I feel that my life is completely failing to present any evidence of God's miraculous power at work, these are my not-yet-Christian friends who are praying and making reference to His existence!!

And so I can completely trust that God is more than able to defend His own reputation and that He will get glory from this situation in the end. It feels horrible and vulnerable to keep trying every day without ever seeing a breakthrough... but it doesn't change the fact that God can still use the situation to advance the gospel.