Acts 16:25-34

Macedonia, part 4

 

    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 everybody'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!"

 

    The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

 

    They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family.

 

Their time in Macedonia – in Philippi – seems somewhat insignificant so far. Not totally insignificant. Lydia and her household have come to the Lord and a demon-possessed girl has been freed. But now Paul and Silas have been beaten and are in jail. I would probably be miserable, wondering why I had chased after a dream about a man from Macedonia.

 

But Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God! Even in jail, they proclaimed the gospel – through song! And their fellow prisoners listened!

 

That’s amazing enough, but then there’s the earthquake, saving the jailer from suicide, and getting the opportunity tell him and his family how to be saved not only from physical death, but from the eternal death their sins deserved! He believed, and all of a sudden he was treating them like brothers instead of like prisoners.

 

One more man, and one more family. Saved in Macedonia.

 

Father, thank You for Your work through Paul and Silas. Thank You for calling them to Macedonia through a vision. And thank You that, although it’s not immediately clear that they had a huge impact in Macedonia, You were clearly at work in the small things – saving Lydia and her family, setting a demonized girl free, and saving the jailer and his family. Although Paul and Silas were beaten and jailed, Your guidance was worth accepting. You were worth following. Help me to follow You the way they did, trusting that Your instructions are worth pursuing no matter what I encounter. Help me to be faithful, joyfully singing Your praises in my deepest pain. And work through me as You did through them, bringing people into spiritual life and freedom.