Don’t Give Up
It feels good to walk to the meeting area each day. Gathering with other believers is restorative and the opportunities for ministry are many. Yet, each day is disturbing. A slave girl keeps following them.
Day by day the girl troubles them. All they want to do is to reach the meeting place with the other believers. Each day this fortune teller shouts out as they pass by. While her words are accurate – “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you a way to be saved” (Acts 16: 17b NIV) – her outbursts trouble Paul and Silas.
Paul’s solution is simple – he asks the evil spirit to come out of her in Jesus’ name. This girl’s life is changed.
What should be a happy event is not. The slave girl’s owners are displeased at the loss of revenue from the girl’s fortune telling. They drag Paul and Silas before the local magistrate, saying these apostles are inciting trouble.
So, after doing no one any harm, these beloved servants of Christ are severely flogged and then thrown in jail.
For me, that would have been a moment to give up. I get upset just reading this Scripture account as I think about the injustice done to Paul and Silas. How do you have hope when you try to do good and follow God’s leading and doors get slammed in your face?
How many of us have been in such a place? We move ahead, seeking the Lord’s guidance, when unexpected circumstances or people get in our way.
Paul and Silas’ answer to their imprisonment? – sing. At midnight they start singing hymns to God and praying. I am sure the other prisoners wonder what is going on. Who on earth feels like singing is such a terrible place? Yet, the other prisoners hear Paul and Silas. The message of Christ gets through even though they are stuck in deplorable circumstances.
I can’t say that I feel much like singing and praising God when life is not going well. I believe God loves me and cares for me, yet my strong emotions often get the better of me when things are hard and the prospects of the future are uncertain. I have had my moments of wanting to give up, feeling like I am getting nowhere.
Paul and Silas take another approach. Rather than giving up, they praise God for their circumstances, trusting that God will work through them. And He does – in a big way.
God sends a severe earthquake which shakes the prison. Doors open and chains are loosened. Interestingly enough, the inmates do not make a run for it. The jailer sees the open prison doors and figures he is done for, as the authorities will kill him if any prisoners escape. Paul assures him all is well and the jailer is relieved.
Here is when an incredibly bad day turns into a miraculous one. The jailer could have run around in a panic to check on everyone and restrain them once again; but instead, he falls to his knees before Paul and asks what he needs to do to be saved. Not only he, but his entire family, is baptized that day – believing in Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
When I delve into this Scripture account I see God’s hand at work – not just in the rosy times, but throughout the trials that Paul and Silas experience. It is an immense missive of hope.
If Paul and Silas had not experienced imprisonment, they would not have been there with a captive audience to hear the hope of the Gospel message. God uses their troubles for His glory.
It makes me wonder what God has in store for me when major difficulties permeate my life. I know that I cling to the hope I have in Christ. He has been my anchor through some major trials in my life. Yet, when in the midst of trials, it can be difficult to think that good will eventually result and lots of “why” questions result. Thankfully, Scripture continually lights my way to journey through whatever circumstances I am facing.
When trials and troubles invade your life, don’t give up. God has a purpose and a plan for you. Praise Him for His glorious works and the care He continues to provide. He will help you make your way through it all and give you blessings you never thought possible.
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