- Morning Devotional
- July 24, 2004
-
"Trust Fall (Part 3)"
- by Don Emmitte
|
|
|
A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. So he took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, "Don't do it! We are all here!" Trembling with fear, the jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire household." (Acts 16:22-31 NIV).
The last few days we have been looking at the power of faith in confronting and overcoming our doubt. This morning’s reading has always perplexed me a bit. How could Paul and Silas keep praying and singing in the midst of such trials? As we have looked at the issue of doubting, which I do believe is a part of the normal Christian growth process, we saw that Peter, the great man of faith had doubts. We also saw that doubting, on its own, is not necessarily sin. It should be our goal to please God with our faith, but doubting by the believer is a normal reaction to certain circumstances of life.
One last point in our consideration is seen in this 16th chapter of Acts. Paul and Silas, have been arrested for preaching the gospel. They had been severely beaten. They were actually "flogged", which meant they were stripped of their clothes and beaten repeatedly with a whip laced with broken glass and sharp rocks. They were thrown into a jail, which would probably not pass any sanitary rulings for today's prisons. They were shackled at the feet, and as far as they knew, they were preparing to die. Normal life appeared to be over.
Yet, they prayed and sang hymns to God! That is an incredible example set for us. This teaches me is that there is hope for we who doubt. Paul and Silas were at a point in their Christian maturity that regardless of how grim the situation looks, they were going to keep on praising God; keep on praying. Are you there yet? Perhaps you ought to commit more than ever to place your faith in the God who is worthy of all our praise! God is fully in control! Annie Johnson Flint has written a wonderful bit of verse. Use it as a reminder to trust in God!
I see not, but God sees;
My strained and peering eyes
|
