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“My hope is in you Lord, all the day long. I won’t be shaken by drought or
storm. A peace that passes, understanding is my song and I sing, My hope is
in You alone”~~~lyrics by Aaron Shust (My Hope is in You)
As I thinking about what I would write for this newsletter, this song kept
running through my head. How do we get through “droughts and storms?” If
we put our hope in the Lord, as the above lyrics suggest, we will be able to get
on the other side of a trial and also have joy in Jesus as we are passing through
it. How?
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were thrown in jail in Philippi and put into
stockades for preaching the gospel. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. “But about
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were
listening to them.” (vs 25) I wonder what the other inmates were thinking right here. Maybe they thought
the two men were crazy, but I’m thinking that they probably wanted to find out where Paul and Silas
Cy & Iris
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found their joy. How could they be singing and praising God while being incarcerated? Verse 26 says,
“and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and
everyone’s chains were unfastened.” The jailor was so freaked out that he
drew his sword to kill himself. Once he realized that all the prisoners were
still there, he “fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out,
he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household’” (vs. 29b-31, NAS)
Wow. The jailor recognized the power of God and that Paul and
Silas’ praising of their Lord and Savior had set them free from their
physical bonds. I think he also understood that they were free on the
inside, too. And, he wanted what they had. If you are beaten and thrown into jail for preaching the
gospel of God and then can sing praises to that very same God, there must be something powerful and
true about this Savior.
Not all jails have walls and bars. What “prison” do you find yourself in? It could be an addiction
or something in your past that continues to haunt you. Maybe it is health issues or a difficult relationship.
Know this: God is there to give you joy and peace in the midst of any situation that you struggle with.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The
Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7, NAS) If others see us rejoicing in the
middle of difficulties and heartaches, they will find hope for their own situations. It could bring them to
ask about this God we serve. Like the jailor in Philippi, our trials could be what draws them to the Lord
and His saving grace.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing that He cannot see you through. “But in all these things we
overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor
angles, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39, NAS)
Hallelujah and amen!
Blessings, Tammy