Thursday, April 30, 2020 Submitted
by Brad Martin
And when they had
inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the
jailer to keep them safely. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and
singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them…Acts 16:23, 25
(ESV)
On The Joyful Road In Suffering
If you have ever gone through a
season of suffering, you probably know our natural response is to complain,
gripe, or get angry. In Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas in the midst of suffering
and they offer us a different response to suffering. Paul had recently
experienced a serious and humiliating beating with their garments torn off of
them, and orders to give to beat them with rods, and thrown into prison.
What happened next was nothing short
of a Holy Spirit movement of God! They didn’t complain, gripe, or even get
angry. They prayed! They worshiped! They praised! They sang to God, with joy!
God loves it when His people praise Him, and when we do, we experience His
powerful presence who promises to never leave us or forsake us.
If you keep reading in the text, it
tells us “…and the prisoners were listening to them.” Joyful singing on the
road to suffering isn’t what most people would expect. What most people would
expect is for us to point out to others our problems, our suffering, our prison
that we are in. But what if we could take on the response that Paul and Silas
took? If you are on the road to suffering, sing praising the ONE who is greater
than our suffering. Praise the ONE who brought you to this road of suffering
and who will see us through to the other side! When we get to this point,
people will take notice. Not of us, but to Jesus!
As Christ followers, I pray we can
continuously get to a place where no matter what road we are on, we allow the
ever-present Holy Spirit to fill us and help us. When that happens, He will use
our situation and our response to Glorify Him, and to draw people to the ONE
who holds all things together.
Press On,
Brad Martin - Worship Pastor
North Side Baptist Church
Brad Martin - Worship Pastor
North Side Baptist Church
