One of my favorites passages in the book of Acts is found in Chapter 16. Paul and Silas traveled from town to town, strengthening the churches in the faith with the gospel of Jesus. When they made it to Philippi, a major city in Macedonia and in Roman control, they encountered a female slave who had an evil spirit in her. She was a fortune teller and made money for her owners this way, She began following Paul and Silas and causing unwanted attention and trouble for them. Acts 16:18 says, "She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, 'In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!' At that moment the spirit left her." Of course, the female slave's owners were furious because they would no longer make money from her fortune telling. The owners dragged Paul and Silas to the authorities and blamed the men for causing an uproar in their city. Acts 16:22-24 says, "The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
From the world's point of view, this would qualify as a bad, bad day. We have to remember that Paul and Silas were both Jews and Romans. Not only was this a bad day, but this was an unfair day. It was against the law to beat a Roman citizen without a fair trial. From the world's point of view, Paul and Silas had every right to whine, to complain, or to fight. However, what happens next is amazing!
Acts 16:25-26 says, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose." You might think it was God's will for them to be freed at that moment, that it was God's will for them to leave by the cloak of night. However, Acts 16:27-28 says, "The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, 'Don't harm yourself! We are all here!'" What we find in this passage of Scripture is that Paul and Silas did not ESCAPE the moment; they EMBRACED the moment! Paul and Silas did not WHINE for themselves; they WORSHIPED the Lord! They were part of a ground-shaking and life-changing experience! As a result of their worship, the jailer and his entire household believed in God. And at daylight, the magistrates ordered the jailer to release them. However, Paul and Silas asked the magistrates to come and give them an escort. And when the magistrates found out that both of these men were, in fact, Roman citizens, they moved quickly and in fear.
How many times do we WHINE when things don't go our way or when we are treated unfairly? How many times do we draw attention to ourselves and our pitiful state? What we see in this passage is that we have a choice: we can WHINE for ourselves or we can WORSHIP the Lord. We can try to ESCAPE the moment or we can EMBRACE the moment. When we focus on the Lord and we worship Him, it shows others that we trust God's purposes and God's timing. And when we focus on God and lead others to focus on God, He will move in powerful ways! It could be a ground-shaking, life-changing experience...not just for you, but for others who need to know the Lord. My prayer is that I will WORSHIP rather than WHINE. My prayer is that I will EMBRACE the tough moments in life rather than try to ESCAPE them. And may it all be for the glory of God!
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