I am beyond the point of being exhausted. Drowning in work. Two family cars with issues....that we know of. Have the pool open but still not working just right. Laundry. Dishes. Are we having a plumbing issue now? Was that something burning? Oh no. The dog just ate an ink pen and has ink all over her paws as she walks through the house! Everything seems to be spinning.
Let's go back to Sunday. During a sermon on freedom, the subject was Paul and Silas and their imprisonment. (Acts 16) Seems they cast out demons in the name of Jesus from a young girl who's owners were using her to tell fortunes for profit. Made the owners mad of course. The girl was happy. But those guys were furious. So they made up a bunch of bunk about Paul and Silas and had them thrown into prison.
Now I've never been in prison except when we went as a youth group to have a church service for some inmates at a minimum security prison an hour or two from our church. It was definitely not a place I would want to stay for long. But it was clean. Lights were bright. Inmates were obviously well fed. But that's not how it was for Paul and Silas. When they were in prison they were in stocks. Locked in. Deep in a dungeon. Nasty. Wet. Smelly. All freedom was taken away. But they didn't complain. Instead they sang praises to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them.
Then something huge happened. At midnight God caused an earthquake! All the doors to the prison opened. All the chains were unfastened. Every prisoner was free. But not one of them left. They did the right thing. The guard was amazed. He knew it had to be God. There was no other explanation. His response? He asked what he must do to be saved. All he had to do was believe on Jesus and he would be saved.....he and his family. And that's exactly what happened that night.
The guard had seen there was something different about Paul and Silas. The other prisoners had seen there was something different about Paul and Silas. It was Jesus.
There are so many lessons in this little story. Paul and Silas praised God even though they were beaten and imprisoned for doing nothing wrong. In pain and not knowing what would be done to them next, they praised God. And others watched them. They preached more gospel as prisoners than most of us preach in freedom.
Way back in Genesis 50:20 Joseph told his brothers that what they meant for evil, God used for good. While I was thinking about Paul and Silas and how their imprisonment turned out, I couldn't help but think about Joseph. About how God took what was done by his brothers out of obedience to the devil and used it for good to save Israel and Egypt.
Here were Paul and Silas, in prison for something they didn't do. Like Joseph. But they didn't give up. They didn't compromise their beliefs. They praised God. Just like Joseph.
What the devil means for evil, God WILL use for good. If we let Him. If we stay true to His Word. Boy, I'm exhausted. But that's no excuse. Like Paul and Silas I must represent my Savior. And if Paul and Silas and Joseph can see that God will use their horrible circumstances for good, I think I need to do the same in my not so horrible circumstances. My challenge for tomorrow....... and no excuses.
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