Perspective matters. Some people look at the world and see God; others do not. Some look at suffering and see a world suffering under the effects of sin; others see unfairness. When hiking in the mountains, what one sees is always determined by the standpoint of the hiker. For that reason we have the Scriptures to help us with our perspective, with our standpoint.
When Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, he was writing from a prison cell. He was not there fairly. In both the book of Acts and in Paul’s epistles, we see that Paul, even when boldly proclaiming the gospel, was careful to live in a way that was honorable before the Roman authorities. In fact, he often proved more honorable than they did!
It would have been easy for Paul to assume that Christ was not being good to him. He was a prisoner (3:1) and he was suffering (3:13). In prison he could not spread the gospel from city to city. Paul’s situation was far from ideal.
He also feared that his suffering might cause his readers to lose heart (3:13), so he prayed for them. He prayed that they would have a heavenly perspective, from which suffering can be seen as glorious (3:13-14). From this perspective, even in the midst of suffering there is strength (3:16), stability (3:17), fullness of love (3:18-19), and abundance (3:20).
While this perspective may not mean much to those to whom we witness, it is what will sustain and enable us to witness to the good news of Christ even from a position of suffering and weakness
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