As It Comes Alive

I am reading through the book of Acts right now. It's quite a story and I keep finding myself in tears as I read the words written there. There are such amazing stories written in this book and the thing I keep telling myself as I get lost in these chapters of this amazing book is that "these are more than just stories, these things actually happened."

Today I tearfully read through the story of Paul and Silas, (chapter 16) and how they drove a evil spirit out of a slave girl, the spirit was making this young girl shout out prophecy (from Satan) and her masters were making money off of her predictions to people. Obviously the masters of this slave girl were not pleased when the realized that Paul had cast this spirit out and freed this girl from her slavery to this spirit. She was their lively hood in a way. So they drug Paul and Silas into the city courts, made up some lies about them and in the end Paul and Silas were convicted (although innocent) stripped, flogged and beaten and then thrown in prison. (This actually happend to two men who were following Christ and merely spreading the good news of Christ)

This is where my heart throbbed and my eyes filled with tears, for immediately after those verses of their beating it reads this:

" About midnight Paul and Silas were PRAYING AND SINGING HYMNS to God and the other prisoners were listening to them..." vs 25

And here I pause. Lets reverse roles. I'm a christian, in the streets of my home town, preaching the good news of Christ that I do in fact live for. People who hear me don't like it. Supposing my children are with me they rip my children from me, they strip me down to nothing, they beat me, they flog me, and then, they drag me down to the police station and throw me in a cell. And what do I do? I sit down in my cell and begin to sing praises? I wish I could say I would do that, but friends, I think I would not. I think I would do anything but that. I would most likely lay on the floor and sob, wish myself to be dead, and pray that my husband would come and rescue me.

I don't want to put Paul and Silas on a pedestal, I only want to make the point that they are the prime example of peace in the storm. The prime example of why we live for Christ the way we do. One would argue, that if they didn't follow Christ in the first place that they wouldn't be in that mess to begin with, and I suppose that would be a fair assessment, but let me tell you this: People all over the world from every tribe and nation would not face persecution such as this if it were not worth living for. there may be a few crazies out there who would if it were not real, but not the masses that do, and not the different time periods of people, past and present. The timeless truths of the Bible were followed to the point of persecution not because these men were all crazy but because they were crazy for Christ because of what He did for us on the cross. What happens next in the story must be told, the Lord rescues Paul and Silas with a violent earthquake that shook the whole prison, all the doors flew open, and every prisoner was set free. The jailer of course who was present wondered what was happening and when he realized what was, he was about to kill himself because he knew what would happen to him if his superior found him with all the opened jail doors. Who would believe this story? But Paul and Silas called out to him and told him that they were all still there, and not to carry out his own death. The man looks to them and asks, "sirs...what must I do to be saved??" vs 30

And he does then accept Christ as His Lord and Savior after witnessing what took place.

Is it possible that the Lord put Paul and Silas in this predicament to lead this man to Christ, and probably all other prisoners watching? Possibly. Is it possible that we are in our painful circumstances in life to lead the watching world to Christ as they see how we sing and praise His name in the midst of our personal sorrow? Perhaps.

These stories are coming to life for me, and at the center of these stories is the overwhelming truths that with Christ, all things are possible, that there can be peace in pain, and that with Him we are saved, regardless of how bleak our circumstances may appear.

How we respond, matters. How we live, matters. And most of all, who we live FOR matters.