Songs of the Scripture - Pt. 9

 

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and 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. (Acts 16:25-26 ESV).

 

Have you ever been surprised by a storm? It is not unusual, even with all the weather alert systems we have today for us to suddenly be in the midst of a thunderstorm. Actually, we have a bit of a different colloquial name for such storms in Texas. We call them “frog stranglers.” Life can do that to us. We seem to be handling everything just fine. In fact, things seem to be almost easy… and then, out of a blue sky dark clouds gather and the thunder announces approaching lightening is near. Before you know it there is a torrential downpour. If caught in such circumstances, you cannot find shelter quick enough. It may be a sudden onset of a serious illness; or, a reversal financially with an unexpected layoff or loss of income. This is that time when we must not be satisfied to merely wait for the storm to pass; we must learn to sing in the rain!

 

This is the context of our reading today. A strange thing happened on the way to a prayer meeting; Paul and his traveling companions were met by a slave girl “who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.” For several days she followed Paul, disrupting his attempts to spread the gospel of Jesus in Philippi. When Paul cast out the evil spirit that controlled her, her owners got upset because they could no longer use her to make money. So they dragged Paul and Silas to court, where they were charged with causing a disturbance. The magistrates ordered them to be stripped, beaten, and sent to jail.

 

Locked securely in an inner cell, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God around midnight. We do not know what they sang, but we are told that “the other prisoners were listening to them.” Then, when an earthquake shook open all the prison doors and loosed everyone’s chains, no one escaped. The jailer, who was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had gone, rushed in and instead found new life in Christ as Paul and Silas shared the gospel with him.

.

When you find yourself faced with difficulties, consider the response of Paul and Silas and ask yourself, “Do my prayers and songs reflect the awesome grace of God? When they do, mighty miracles present themselves in ways that are both surprising and deeply comforting.