God Always Has a Plan

Acts 16:23-26 ESV
“And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.  Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison 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, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.”

Paul and Silas did nothing worthy of punishment and imprisonment. They were judged without a trial which was unlawfull for Roman citizens. But God always has a plan and this plan involved a church, a support system for Paul’s journeys and a former Jailer.

Lydia would be a supporter of Paul’s ministery and was the first convert to be baptized in Philippi. The Philippian jailer, who Paul rescued from death, would become a significant worker in the Christian church at Philippi. Philippi was on an important trade route in Europe and this would become an opened door not just for the Gospel in Europe, but also for three of Paul’s missionary journeys.

You could ask yourself, was it so important to suffer beatings, arrest and imprisonment? Paul and Silas thought so, and they believed God had a plan before the plan was ever fulfilled. This passage says the Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten with rods, and put in shackles in the inner jail.

The inner jail was for high security, the worst of the worst, but when God holds the keys and has a plan, there will be nothing that can stop Him from moving, even past guards, chains and bars. Even in the inner prison, Paul and Silas found a place to worship. At midnight, when the jail was typically silent, Paul and Silas began to sing hymns and songs. Interestingly enough, the guards and prisoners all fell silent to hear all the Paul and Silas were saying, praying and singing.

It doesn’t matter where we are, or what we are doing, God is there. He will bring peace in times of trials and torments. He will bring release to those who are bound physically or spiritually. God has the most unusual ways to reach us. But He always, always does His best to reach us and use us in the most unusual ways.

Prayer:
Lord, when I’m seeking, You find me. When I’m questioning my very existence, You show me my value. When I’m lost and hurting, You manage to put a song of praise in my heart and on my lips!