Daily Bread

The crowd joined in attacking them (Paul and Silas), and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he (the jailer) put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’

Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to the jailer and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptised without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Bad things happen to good people. How could God allow Paul and Silas to be humiliated, beaten, then shackled in prison? After all, God had chosen Paul to be a witness to Christ, and Paul was only being obedient to his calling? And how could Paul and Silas be praying and singing to God under such dire circumstances?

We live in a world where heaven and earth are colliding. We know how the story started and we know how the story ends, but right now we are in the midst of a cosmic battle between holiness and hate, between the the divine love of God and the greed, pride, and rampant violence of humanity. We know that much of life is not fair, nor is it just. We experience pain and suffering — much of which we can do nothing about.

Through being punished and imprisoned, the authorities were trying to break the wills of Paul and Silas, yet through their praying and singing they effectively stuck two fingers up at a world of hate and corruption. Yes, it was a reflection of hearts full of trust and devotion, but it was also an act of defiance — a way of saying, "You can do what you like to me, but you can never take from me the love that God has poured into my heart."

As I read this account, it strikes me too, that God's concern was not only for Paul and Silas, but was for the jailer and his entire family. What Paul and Silas endured was not just for God's sake, but for the sake of people who did not yet know God. Paul and Silas remained steadfast, endured pain and suffering, and held their course, and love won out in the end with dramatic results and lives transformed.

Sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of pain and suffering — we have little left of ourselves to give, and can be physically or emotionally worn out. If this is you, hang in there if you can and lean on your family in Christ. No-one can take away the love that God has poured into your heart. Yes, feel angry at the injustice of it all, but do your best to never stop loving because, in the end, love wins.

Holy God
Sometimes I'm worn out
both physically and emotionally,
and it feels like I can't go on.
When I'm at my lowest ebb,
bring me the support
and comfort I need.
Help me to never stop praying
and giving you praise,
as I trust that your love
will win in the end.