A Problem For My Problem

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from prison. He was in chains, surrounded by Roman guards, facing an uncertain future. And yet he called it the epistle of joy. That contradiction is where Jonathan Rivera starts his message: How can someone be joyful while sitting in a prison cell? Is Paul faking it? Is he in denial? Or is something else happening that changes how we understand pain itself?

The $200 Billion Mistake

Rivera opens with a story about Ronald Wayne, the third co-founder of Apple. Wayne created the first Apple logo and wrote the manual for the first Apple computer. He was set to receive 10% of the company. But after twelve days, he quit. He sold his stake for $800. Fifty years later, that 10% would be worth $200 billion.

The point is not about money. It is about what Rivera calls quitting too soon — on a job, a marriage, a dream, a calling. He recalls a youth pastor who once told him: the worst thing God could show you at the judgment seat of Christ is not a movie of your sins. It is a movie of the life you could have lived but never did, because you gave up before the breakthrough came. "The only thing harder than obedience is regret," Rivera says. "The only thing harder than saying yes to God is wishing you would have said yes to God."

Pain Produces What Success Cannot