“Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.”

Acts 16:16-19 NIV

Talk about drama! Things began to happen at lightning speed. One minute the missionaries were on their way to a prayer meeting…the next they were sitting in jail, beaten and bleeding, with their feet in the stocks. What happened?

Paul did the unthinkable. He robbed some men of their income! Of course, it depended on one’s perspective. People in the world would see it as an unfair act. After all, this slave girl was a lucrative possession. She was the source of their wealth as a fortune teller. Everyone wanted to know their future…and she could tell them… through the power of demons. 

However, Paul saw her as a tool for cruel men to use to their advantage. He got really angry at their abuse…so he did what he could…he engaged God’s power to set her free. That did it! These greedy men had just lost their money-maker…so they got angry…and did what they did best.  They turned to violence…they lied and stirred up the mob. 

“They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks….

Acts 16:20-24 NIV

Paul and Silas found themselves in jail before they could blink an eye. What now? Without an investigation or a shred of evidence against them, the city magistrates had them flogged and clapped in irons under tight security. 

In this predicament, with an uncertain outcome, these two men had one of two options. They could be angry, bitter, and very vocal in their complaints against injustice or…they could trust God to finish what He started. They chose the latter. After all, didn’t Jesus say that they should love their enemies, pray for them and rejoice when they were persecuted for His sake?

To be continued