Five Minute Friday: Enable

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "enable"

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.-Philippians 1:12-18 (Berean Study Bible)


Begin 5 minutes.


There are so many different words for enable in the Scriptures, Old & New Testament. Usually when I am participating in Five Minute Friday, I usually look up the word to see if I can write about a passage that includes this word. But this time, I thought of the story in the passage of Scripture above. I looked up the word enable too, just to get a proper definition, but there were so many in the Hebrew and the Greek.

My thought on enable was “to make possible.” When I looked up the definition in Merriiam Webster’s online dictionary, that was the first definition listed. And I think that is why I thought about the story above.

In this passage of Scripture, Paul is writing to the church in Philippi. If you remember, that is where he met Lydia, the first European convert to Christianity. She might have been part of the leadership in that church.

In verses 12-18 of Philippians 1, Paul is talking about all the things that have happened to him, has made possible, or enabled the Gospel to go further. I didn’t check before I wrote this post, but based on what he says, I imagine he is writing this from Rome, and is under guard, thus the chains.

His arrest, the chains, have enabled the Gospel. It has made the palace guard and all the rest more aware of Jesus.

His chains have enabled the rest of the Body of the Believers there. It has given them boldness to “speak the word without fear.”

Christ is preached. The preaching of the Gospel was enabled because of the circumstances of Paul.


End 5 minutes.