OUR LORD’S UNFAILING LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS IN TRIALS
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. —Acts 16:25
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 household 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 household. —Acts 16:32-34
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life… Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. —-Psalm 143:8, 10
Paul and Silas surely knew the “word of (His) unfailing love, for (they had) put (their) trust in (Him).” Even in prison, after being beaten with rods, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Yes, they were trusting our Lord to “Show (them) the way (they) should go.” Truly, they had entrusted their very life with our Lord. They wanted to do His will. God was their God and they desired His “good Spirit lead me on level ground” — even while they were in prison… praying and singing to God as the other prisoners listened.
Yes, we can trust our Lord, even in the most difficult of situations. Paul and Silas did and through their faithfulness they experienced what it means to “Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (I Corinthians 15:58). Being arrested did not move them from the work of our Lord. Being beaten with rods did not move them from the work of our Lord. Not even being “the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks” (Acts 16:24) “move them from the work of our Lord.”
What was the result? “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). They did not give up. After the earthquake with all the prison doors opening, but none of the prisoners escaping, Paul and Silas “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 household 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 household.”
What was a very difficult and painful experience turned out to be a time of great joy! How did that happen? It was because Paul and Silas did “not become weary in doing good.” Instead, they knew that “at the proper time (they would) reap a harvest if (they did) not give up.” This should speak volumes to us about not giving up, even if we are in difficult circumstances. Instead, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). What Jesus has started in our lives, He will finish! (Philippians 1:6) — persevere! Yes, Dear Father, help me to persevere in the race marked out for me, keeping my eyes on Jesus. May this be so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. So may this be and all for Your honor and glory and the benefit of others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLsETd3MFzk&list=RDmLsETd3MFzk&start_radio=1