Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  --Habakkuk 3:17-18

Question:  What would you do if you were arrested for doing something good?

                 What would you do if you were taken to the public square and stripped naked, and then were  

                       beaten with rods? 

                 What would you do if you were thrown into prison, and your feet were put in stocks?

                 Where do you go to the bathroom if your feet are in stocks?  (Think about it).

                 What would you do if an earthquake broke the locks, and the prison doors sprang open, and

                        the stocks broke apart?

                 And if, by some miracle, all of this happened to you in one day, and the jailer repented, and

                        took you to his house, and washed your wounds, and fed you, and you shared the joy of

                        Jesus with him and his family--after all of that, would you willingly go back to prison, just

                        so the jailer would not get in trouble?

This very thing happened to Paul and his friend, Silas.  You can read about it in Acts chapter 16, starting in verse 16.  The two men were going to a place of prayer, and a girl started following them, shouting behind them, "These men are servants of the Most High God.  They are telling you the way to be saved."  Now, in case you were wondering, this is not usually how missionaries go about their business.  They don't drag a billboard behind them with big, red letters saying, "Get saved now!  Ask me how."  They don't usually hire a publicist to walk with them and shout, "Christians here!  Hey, everyone, here comes a Christian."

So Paul gets annoyed, and rebukes her.  He drives the demon out of her.  She is grateful.  Not so the men who were making money by having her predict the future.  These men seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the magistrates.  They accused our intrepid missionaries of being religious zealots and fomenting a riot in the town.  Crowds press in, and start shouting at the top of their lungs (talk about a riot!).  The magistrates, wanting to keep the peace, order Paul and Silas to be stripped bare, and to be flogged in the city square.  Then they are taken and placed in a dark cell in the middle of the prison, without any windows.  Their feet are put in stocks.  I'm sure they couldn't ask the guards nicely if they could please lie down, or shift positions, or be let loose a few minutes every few hours to go to the men's room.  No, they were stuck there until the magistrate came and let them go.  The prison guard was supposed to guard them with his life.  If they escaped, he would almost certainly be beheaded.

So what happened?

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 all escaped.  But Paul shouted, "Don't  harm yourself!  We are all here!"

So why do you think they were praying and singing hymns at midnight?  I think it was because they had a captive audience, and that they had spent the evening preaching Christ to the prisoners.  I believe many of the prisoners repented that very evening, because when given the opportunity, not one of them escaped.  I think that the prison guard heard the message, too.  Either he went to sleep listening to them, or he shook his head and went someplace quiet to get away.  

Why were they praising God and singing in the middle of the prison in the middle of the night?  Because their God was bigger than their circumstances.  Because God had placed them in a unique position to share Christ with those who needed Him most.  Because they knew that God could work all things for His good; He would use their plight to show His might;  He would show His power in their weakest hour; His light could shine, because they didn't whine.  Later, Paul would write this to his letter to the church in Philippi: "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice! Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petitions, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4, 6-7).

The earthquake woke up the jailer.  He was half asleep, and not very observant.  He panicked when he saw all the prison doors standing open.  He knew that if even one prisoner escaped, he could be tortured or killed.  But what would happen if they were all gone?  He was ready to kill himself.  But Paul, showing the grace of God, stopped him.  The first thing out of his mouth was, "What must I do to be saved?"  This is why I think he had heard the message that Paul had been preaching to the prisoners that night.  He didn't ask, "Why didn't you run?"  He didn't say, "You!  Back in the stocks before I run you through with my dagger."  His conscience was pricked, and he knew that his greatest need was Jesus.  And having met Jesus, he took Paul and Silas to his own house to dress their wounds and give them food and drink.  See what prayer and singing can do!

When the magistrates came to release Paul and Silas, they didn't go to the jailer's house.  They went to the prison.  That's where they found Paul and Silas.  That can only mean that the missionaries had gone back to prison on purpose, probably in order to spare the jailer his life.  Paul used his Roman citizenship to put the fear of God into the magistrates--it was illegal to imprison a Roman citizen without a trial.  The accusers had said they were Jews, so there was no trial.  But Paul, invoking his citizenship, brought apologies from the magistrates.  By doing this, Paul probably protected the fledgling church there.  The new Christians in that town included Lydia, a seller of purple cloths, and the jailer, and doubtless many others in the town who had come to believe in Christ.  Paul went to Lydia's house to encourage the believers before he left town.  Paul was exiled, but because of the circumstances surrounding Paul's arrest and imprisonment and his release once they heard he was a Roman--because of all that Paul had said and done, the magistrates probably looked the other way as the new Christians there met openly.

God can make all things work together for our good and His glory.  So why do we get so worked up when someone cuts us off in traffic?  Why do we get so bent out of shape when things don't go exactly as we had planned?  Think about it--if Paul had not been sent to prison, the prison guard might not have believed, and the church that was meeting in Lydia's house might have been persecuted.  If we would only trust God in our circumstances, and count it all joy, as James 1:2 says.  "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed." (1 Peter 4:13).  At the end of all things, we can realize the great love that Jesus has for us.  "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride (the Church) has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:7).  How do we make ourselves ready?  By whining and moaning every time something doesn't go our way? Not at all!  We make ourselves ready by recognizing God's hand in all things, even when things don't go as we planned.

There is a series of beer commercials based on the idea that anyone who drinks their brand of suds is "ready for anything."  In one episode, a beer purchaser is invited to play miniature football with Fox football analyst and former Super Bowl coach Jimmy Johnson.  In another, a brand purchaser goes home and finds that his man-cave has been turned into a "fan-cave", and even his back yard is filled with likenesses of his team's mascot.  I believe that if we choose to follow Christ, and if we are truly "ready for anything" in any situation He places us in, then we will have more than a pirate ship in our back yard with fireworks shooting out of the cannons.  We will end up in the wedding party at the marriage supper of the Lamb.  We will be clothed in white, reflecting the glory of God in Christ Jesus, whose people we are.