…So, they did just that! They began to sing. What did they sing? The songs they knew best…David’s songs…about God…about suffering…and trust…and victory…and God’s power over their enemies.
And it worked!
“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 everyone’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 escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
Acts 16:25-28 NIV
The other prisoners heard them singing…but they didn’t complain…they listened.
The songs God’s prisoners sang were so powerful that they split open the prison walls…and opened the stocks…and broke the chains off the prisoners…and smashed open the doors! Wow! That shocked the prisoners so much that, instead of using the opportunity to escape, they couldn’t move.
“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 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 16:29- 34 NIV
What began as a miscarriage of justice became victory for grace when another whole family was rescued from paganism and catapulted into the kingdom of God.
One big lesson that keeps recurring in this story, as in many of the stories in the Bible…God is always up to something. When we trust Him without collapsing into a heap of despair…disappointment…disillusionment…when we give God the space He needs to finish what He started…we will discover that He never allows random or irrelevant circumstances into our lives. Everything works according to a predetermined plan.
What may seem crazy to us makes perfect sense to Him. Injustice is a great teacher… Retaliation is never the way of victory. It only perpetuates more anger and hatred. Jesus’ way is the way of forgiveness. Forgiveness neutralises the poison, takes the heat out of the fire, and stops the downward spiral into hell.
So, these two men, true sons of God and followers of Jesus…turned their pain into a paean of praise…and their reward was a free pass from prison.
This story has a second unexpected outcome…
“When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.” But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.”
Acts 16:35-40 NIV
Paul used his Roman citizenship as a lever to expose the injustice they had suffered…not as retaliation but as a lesson for those who were expected to dispense justice, not tyranny. The ex-prisoners walked away from that city vindicated, heads held high, leaving behind another family of believers to join the growing church in Philippi, for their trouble.
To be continued