My husband and I were doing our nightly Bible reading and this passage literally JUMPED out at me. I knew the Lord had a message for us from this.
Acts 16:16-24 (NKJV)
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
16Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe." Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Paul and Silas were out doing what they do - serve the Lord. They were being hassled by a possessed girl. They did what God called them to do - got the evil spirit to leave the girl. The local yocal that owned her didn't believe in God and didn't appreciate their service to the girl.
So they were beaten for doing what they were called to do. Then they were put in the inner prison.
According to www.mpumc.org, this kind of prison was "dug out of solid rock and were underground. Prisoners, their guards, and their provisions were lowered through an opening the size of a manhole. This manhole was the only means of entrance and exit. Rain and debris from the market and from the animals easily dropped into this "house of darkness". Neither animal waste nor that of the prisoners found it's way out easily."
I don't know all your individual stories- but I know at one time you were doing what you thought you were supposed to be doing in life. Suddenly you are thrust into these circumstances. Regardless of the reason for the situation or the separation or divorce, I think we can agree that it is a dark place, indeed. We are shackled - by litigation, by poverty, by laws, by our obligations, by sin, etc. etc. etc.
Those who don't know God will point the finger and harass you. You are a Christian - why are you getting divorced? Why are you divorced? Etc. On the inside, we ask ourselves the same thing. We are in a dark place, and we don't want to be there.
BUT GOD...
Let's continue with Acts Chapter 16 (NKJV)
23
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."
Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
That's a lot to chew on.
First off, despite being in a hole in the ground, filled with excrement, dark and dank - they were not complaining. They were singing hymns. Singing - in their dark, smelly, shackled condition. HELLO! Boy does that convict me. I'm not afraid to say I've been guilty of stinkin' thinkin', not praise.
There was seemingly NO way out. By mans estimation, there WAS no way out!! Then GOD! They could not predict what was going to happen - and SUDDENLY there was the earthquake, doors opened, chains were loosed. I'm sure no one predicted that happening...except Paul and Silas, perhaps.
PAUL and SILAS were so critical: in the midst of the mess, they praised God. Then, once they were released, they cried out to the jailer and saved his life! Both physically and spiritually. Then the jailer brought the good news to his family - and who know who else!
There are people desperate in your life - desperate to know God, desperate for Hope, desperate for the smallest kindness. YES - you are in a dark, dank, smelly, seemingly hopeless place.
BUT GOD!
God sees you in that place. AND He sees those around you. Do you? Do you realize that, even in the place of confusion and sadness and despair, there are those in your life that are looking to you. Your children. Your family. Your friends. People that you have a "random" interaction with.
The bottom line is this - God sees all, and He knows what to do. We need to trust Him - and praise Him, keeping our eyes on Him, even in our despair.
And then ask Him how, even in this lowly state, we can serve Him by being a servant to those around us.
Have a blessed week...I challenge you to think on and study this passage. Let the Lord speak to you...wherever you are!
