29.Jun.2009 Praising in the Dark

…a continuation of if you build it…

Acts 16:22-26:
A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

This is a remarkable story. In it, Paul has just freed a young girl from demon possession. However, the powers of her possession were allowing her to make money for her masters. They got mad and had Paul and Silas thrown into jail, and not just any jail, the lowest level! It is dark and smelly and filled with mud and rats and bugs! It is not a pleasant place. In this darkness, Paul and Silas do an amazing thing: they praise!

How we react to darkness in our lives affects the people around us. Note in verse 25 how “the other prisoners were listening.” The people of the world watch us to see how we react when our lives take a turn for the worse.

We can all be in a prison, whether it be emotional or physical. Our feet are locked in place; there is no forward motion in our lives. It is the darkest hour when we are beaten emotionally by the rigors of life and have lost our vision; we are not going anywhere. We are stuck in the dark. It is in this time that God can move if we have the right reaction.

Paul and Silas praised. Being in the dark, chained to a wall, and bleeding openly into mud; that is not the most promising environment for which to inspire praise, yet, if we praise God in our darkest hours, He builds us! Our first reaction should always be prayer. We should not yell or kick or scream or seek to place blame. We praise. That is when God goes to work in our lives. He begins to pinpoint where the world has infiltrated our hearts. The Holy Spirit convicts us and begins to pull out those things that are soiling our worlds. Then, He fills the gaps with His Kingdom.

When you praise God in your darkest hour, you are elevating God above your circumstances. You are saying, “God, I know it looks bad, but I know you are higher than all of this. You are on the throne. It is Your will, not mine.” That is the beginning of faith. Faith is an action that does not equal the situation.

Now, everything we do in the darkness has an echo effect. The decisions we make in these moments turn us around and get us past it. God is in the prison with us. It is hard to find Him there. In tough times, it is so hard to find God, but He is there! He is there in the moment. And when He is there, things change. Our hearts shift back to Him. Our attitudes, so sullied by the world, shift and change. You can sit and wallow in your self-pity and stare at your circumstances, or you can look to God and worship Him. And when our attitudes change, the situation changes along with it.

Be honest with God. If you are mad, tell Him. But cling to your faith! Ask Him for His help. Talk to Him. Worship Him. If it is too hard, get stronger. Elevate your faith. For how we act in these times will determine how others act when they are in prison. People in darkness watch us in ours. And then, God does the unthinkable! Only God, when receiving the worship and praise of a faithful few, would free EVERYONE! God goes full measure! All the prison doors are opened! Ours and theirs! God moves at a glimmer of opportunity to set people free! God wants to set people free! He even goes so far as to set the jailer free! Then one binding you, the one speaking ill into your wold; he get’s set free too! And it all starts at midnight.

There is a ripple effect when God moves in our lives.

So, who will be touched when you choose to praise and to worship?