4 things that happen when you choose joy
When you were a kid did you ever stomp your foot, cross your arms and shout “thats not fair!” Maybe as a teenager, or maybe youve wanted to do it as and adult? Sometimes unfair circumstances can get us down! Things happen, and you know it just wasn’t supposed to be that way. Had it been done right things would have been totally different. Today we are looking at two men who were in unfair circumstances, and we’re going to look at the one little thing they did that changed everything.
Acts 16:16-40
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.
37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.
39 And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
This story is full of paradoxes. Lets begin with the thing that got it all started, which was actually a great miracle. Paul and Silas were being followed around by a demon possessed woman for days! She was probably very disruptive to their services. Dispite the fact that she was technically saying positive things, it was the work of satan and was not truly bringing glory to God.
Paul and Silas did a good thing. They were responsible for a young woman being delivered form terrible bondage. Her life was completely changed by the power of God! But Instead of being appreciative, or at least being amazed, the whole city became enraged that this young woman had been set free.
Now, We know that the main motivating factor was the greed of her masters. But still. It seems like someone would have recognized that something truly wonderful had taken place and spoken up to defend Paul and Silas. But instead they were turned over to the authorities.
one would think that once the authorities were involved the situation would deescalate. But no. In fact it looks like, according to the text, everyone pretty much went crazy after these men finished their speech. Instead of being given a fair trial, Paul and Silas were publicly beaten against the law. Instead of being asked any questions they were just thrown in jail. this really was an odd occurrence because as a roman citizen paul had the right to a fair trial. But he didnt get one.
Now we get to the part where Paul and Silas respond. As interesting as the prior story is, the thing that is really critical is how Paul and Silas respond to their situation.
Remember this: the facts of your situation are nowhere near as important as your response to your situation. We can make things way better or way worse depending on our response, regardless of what the situation is.
Back to Paul and Silas. Instead of being down in the dumps, they chose to pray and to glorify God! What and example for the rest of us. In Psalms David says “why art thou cast down oh my soul and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God!!!
Paul and Silas did something very simple; they chose worship.
Most of the time we want to feel like praying, or we want to feel like worshiping God. But the truth is, both of those things are actions that don’t require us to “feel” like doing anything. We pray beleiving that God will hear us. We worship God because we know the He is worthy. We praise God because we know He inhabits the praises of His people. To pray and worship is an act of faith rooted in the reality of who God is. It isnt based on how we feel.
But can I come let you in on a little secret? When we choose to pray and worship God, and we really focus in on who He is, He responds to that. Those feelings of awe and adoration begin to flow as God responds to our prayer and lets us feel his presence.
So what happened to Paul and Silas?
God moved!
Instead of leaving them in prison, God literally moved heaven and earth just to set them free. God saw two men who had been treated badly, who had been treated unfairly, but they were still having faith and they were still glorifying God in the middle of it all. Its almost as if they were happy that God had an opportunity to really show off for the people in this city. Gods heart was touched by men who chose to bring him glory. He responded to their prayer. He did a miracle to set them free.
The story goes on, and ends triumphantly, when the prison guard and his whole family accept Christ. And Paul and Silas are escorted out of town with the respect they deserved in the first place.
When we choose to praise and worship God 4 things will happen as a result.
- Your focus will change. We will stop with the whining and complaining, and start up the music that lifts up Jesus and our focus will be heavenly, not earthly.
- Your outlook will change. Ever heard of astranauts being amazed when they first get into space at how small the earth is? A similar thing happens when we put our focus on Christ. The world and all its troubles seem so small, so much more manageable, when worship begins to flow.
- It Gets Gods attention like we saw in the story God responds to worship.
- It Is a witness to the rest of the world. At the end of the story there was a Roman gaurd who was on the verge of committing suicide. But because of the testimony of Paul and Silas he Gave his heart to Christ instead. That might not have ever happened if Paul and Silas never had been in prison. And it probably wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t prayed and worshipped in the middle of it either.
God has his way in the whirlwind doesnt he? Just remember that no matter what happens, God is in control. and that your response today, could lead to your victory tomorrow.