I’ve been mulling a lot on the topic of thriving lately, especially after a long stretch where thriving was the last word I’d use to describe my heart.
One thing I’ve learned is what it doesn’t mean. Thriving doesn’t mean that everything around you is going great. “Woohoo! Look at me, no problems, I’m thriving!” You can be one of the happy, shiny people with perfect health and a stuffed bank account, and still be living in chaos.
Thriving isn’t primarily about what’s happening to you on the outside, and then once that’s settled, you can have joy on the inside. Christianity insists that thriving begins inside of you – as Jesus starts to rule your heart, bringing in more of his light, joy, freedom, and his peace – and then works its way out from there.
So many Scriptures support this idea, that thriving is an inside-out sort of thing. Paul writes and prays for the Ephesians: “May [God] grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:14-19.
If I’m reading that right, then thriving means to be so near to Christ and so full of Christ that outward circumstances can’t rattle you nearly as much anymore. David got it, when he wrote to the Lord, “You have put more joy in my heart than [others] have when their grain and wine abound.” (Ps.4:7)
The book of Acts gives us numerous pictures of how the early church thrived under extraordinary pressure. Acts 8 tells the story of what happened immediately after the martyrdom of Stephen when the Saul the Persecutor launched a ruthless assault against the church. Here’s the set-up:
“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” (vss.1-3)
Not exactly optimal conditions for thriving, wouldn’t you say? Would anybody want to jump into a time machine and step out right at this moment? Yet in the very next paragraph, look at all the thriving that takes place.
“Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip [one of Stephen’s close friends who just watched his friend get stoned to death] went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in the city.” (vss.4-8)
In the first paragraph we find great persecution and great lamentation. In the second paragraph we find great joy. In the first paragraph we find believers being locked in prison chains. In the second paragraph we find the breaking of sin’s chains as countless people repent and turn to Christ. In the first paragraph we find the ravaging of the church. In the second church we find the revival of the church. Humanly speaking, it doesn’t make sense. How can they be thriving? Yet they were, because they were near Christ and full of Christ.
May God grant you – the one reading this right now – to be strengthened with power in your inner being. If you belong to Christ, then Christ is with you, in your very heart. So believe it is true, then cry out to him, ask him to fill you, help you, forgive you, comfort you, guide you, whatever your need may be. Then do what he says or go where he leads. Who knows? Joy or peace may be closer than you think.
Bear Clifton, writer and screenwriter, is the pastor of BridgeWay Community Church in California, Maryland. His essays, screenplays and devotionals can be enjoyed at his ministry website: trainyourselfministry.com and his writing website: blclifton.com. Bear is also the author of “Train Yourself To Be Godly: A 40 Day Journey Toward Sexual Wholeness”, “Ben-Hur: The Odyssey”, “A Sparrow Could Fall”, and his latest – “Living Under The Cross”, a collection of essays on the Beatitudes – all available through Amazon.
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