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. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
One of the things I marvel at about some of my friends is how good of chess players they are. A good chess player is running a myriad of iterations through their head, thinking 5-8 moves down the road, able to adapt and adjust their strategy each play. I am not a good chess player. I don’t like to think down the road far enough in that game. However, God is a master at the counter move, and when he moves it is typically in a grand fashion.
Here we see the leaders arrest Paul and Silas, beat them with rods, and jail them. They did not even treat their wounds. And instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they prayed and sang hymns to God. INCREDIBLE!
God then honored their praise of him and counter-moved. And it happened in the form of a massive earthquake that broke the jail doors and set all the prisoners free. Normally, prisoners who are set free don’t need to be asked twice to get out of jail. But Paul and Silas convinced them to stay and stopped the jailer from taking his own life.
Not bad for a day's work: From jail they made such an impression on the other inmates, that they listened when Paul and Silas told them to stay in jail! This saved the jailer’s life and his family’s good name, income, etc.
When I don’t know why God allows persecution, I need to be patient, praise him anyways, wait for his counter move and join him in his work.
Lord, thank you for this great example of patience during suffering. You have a plan and come to the aid of your faithful servants in the end. Help me to praise you in troubling times, like Paul and Silas.
