"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...." (NIV) Acts 16: 25-26
Bible Reading: Acts 16:16-40
I am sure many of us are familiar with the saying “when praises goes up, His blessings come down”. There is perhaps no better illustration of this saying than the story of Paul and Silas and their time in prison.
Here we have two men of God who had been, in the words of Bible, “severely flogged” and then imprisoned for doing the work of God. One would think that since these men were doing the work of God, He would save them from such terrible experiences. What’s more, the Bible says that the jailor was instructed to guard Paul and Silas very well so he placed them in the “inner cell” (dungeon) and fastened their feet in stocks so they could not escape.
In doing the work of God, Paul and Silas were caught and treated like hardened criminals. Talk about suffering, maybe you and I never spent time in any physical prison but we have gone through very tough situations that are very comparable to imprisonment. Maybe it was the loss of a job or the inability to find one in the first place. Maybe it was the loss of a loved one, or it was ill-health, or family feuds or even a combination of several different things. Bottom line, there have been tough times this year so singing praises to God presently is the last thing on our minds.
Beloved, the most remarkable thing about the story of Paul and Silas is not the predicament they were in, rather it was their reaction to the predicament – they chose to sing praises to the name of God. Can you imagine it? Lying down on a cold, hard prison floor, with your feet fastened in a piece of wood; and what do you do? Oh yes, you sing praises to God. This does not sound normal. Yet, this was exactly Paul’s and Silas’s reaction.
Yes, it’s hard to fathom what Paul and Silas did, but the results thereof were simply amazing; the prison doors were opened and all chains fell lose. What’s more, the jailer and his entire household were baptized and saved that same night. Oh yes, this was God at work. This was God sending down His power and glory as a result of praises that went up.
So, maybe things are not going well with you now but let’s sing praises to the Lord and rejoice in our hearts like Paul and Silas did. God is still writing the stories of our lives and in His own time, He will write the chapter that talks about shackles breaking, doors opening and wounds healing in our lives. Until then, let’s just keep sending those praise up because there is power in praise.