By Gobel Brockman
(This week's devotional is based on a story found in Acts 16. I encourage you to read it.)
Try as I might, I don't think I can truly picture the scene: Paul and Silas had just been severely beaten and were now bound in stocks, lying in jail. I also must keep in mind that "jail" in their time was a lot different than ours. It was cold, damp, and filthy. Physical abuse was a regular occurrence, and it was not uncommon for prisoners to die in this setting. What was their crime? Delivering a slave girl from demonic bondage who was bringing much financial gain to her owners by her fortune-telling. After Paul and Silas endured this beating and imprisonment, what were they doing at this low point in their lives?
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." (Acts 16:25)
"Praying and singing hymns to God." I'm sure we all would have to admit that we have struggled at times to give God praise in situations that were far, far less extreme than what they were going through. However, hopefully we can learn from their experience and grow from it. The Bible goes on to say that "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 bonds were unfastened." (V. 26) The jailer came in and asked, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul told him that if he and his household would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they would be saved. The jailer then took Paul and Silas home, and he and his entire family became Christians and were baptized that evening. But the Bible goes on to say something interesting: "And he took them (Paul and Silas) the same hour of the night and washed their wounds." (V. 33)
I want us all to learn a lesson that is contained in this story. Paul and Silas gave God praise in one of the darkest hours of their lives. God gave them a miraculous delivery, and as a result they were able to minister to a man and his family and bring them into faith in Christ. However, their journey to that point had left them wounded. I try to picture in my mind Paul and Silas simultaneously rejoicing at this family's salvation while grimacing in pain from the beating they had earlier endured. The apostles saw this family's sin being washed away while this family washed the apostle's wounds. Talk about contrasts.
I've said all of that to say this: I believe that American Christianity just may be swiftly approaching a rude awakening. I believe that we may be about to learn that being a Christian is more than having Bible studies over lattes and attending worship conferences with fog machines and light shows. Paul and Silas saw the miraculous from God – and had the scars to prove that they were willing to pay the price to see it. It makes me hope that my faith – that our faith – is strong enough to endure anything like that. We're mistaken if we think we're going to go "all in" for Jesus and win the world's approval in the process. My prayer is that my faith in Jesus is strong enough that I can sing praise to Him regardless of what I am going through. Towards the end of his life Paul stated that "All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted." (II Timothy 3:12) Our wounds may be physical, emotional, or spiritual, but our relationship with Christ is worth that risk. My circumstances can't dictate when I offer worship to Jesus, for He always deserves it. Period.
If I ever suffer scars for the name of Jesus, may they never silence my praise. I would hate to miss the miracle that just may be soon following.
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