Let's read Acts 16:16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29 The jaile called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
A funny thing happened on the way to church. Those old enough to remember the old-time television comedians would begin their bits, "A funny thing happened on the way to..." In Paul and Silas' case, nothing funny about their trip to church; they met up with a slave-girl who was demon possessed and who because of this demon present in her life, she made a lot of money for her owners by fortune-telling. Funny how psychic hotlines have lost their popularity at least on tv; but some people always want to know, "What's going to happen tomorrow" or "What's going to happen to me?" I've shared the true story of a new pastor entering a new church and discovering the old pastor had left behind a bill of $600 to psychic hotlines. He was worried about the next church! But this girl's demon knew the Truth: "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." You want or need a better fortune than to know that the One and Only Living, "Most High God" offers to you a way of salvation; a deliverance from sin to life? Paul and Silas' daily (read that again!) trips to church to pray were being interrupted by this girls' outcry against them until finally Paul turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it left her that very moment. Oops, with it went the easy money these slave-owners had been making. They made a citizen's arrest and dragged them to court and charged them with a claim they were disrupting the peace and advocating unlawful behavior as Jews towards Romans. The crowds, who probably had been hearing the spirit's cries about a way of salvation from the Most High God join in in wanting Paul and Silas dealt with. The magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be stripped and beaten. Verse 23 says they received a severe beating; and on their way to church! A low tire makes many of us just give up and stay home! Paul and Silas didn't get the option of going on to church, they were taken to prison and ordered the jailer to keep them as secure as he could to keep them from escaping.
Paul and Silas were taken to the deepest part of the jail and fastened their feet in stocks; wooden boards with holes cut in them in which your feet were placed and then locked shut. Yet, even in the misery of this jail and even at an hour when most of us are snoring, Paul and Silas are singing praises to God and lifting up prayers. They didn't make it to church and so the church came to them. They were keeping the other prisoners awake with this until an earthquake hit, "so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened." The jailer saw this and decided the best way out of what would be coming to him was to draw his sword and fall on it. Paul yells out that they were all still there. His next actions show that he too was listening to the hymns and prayers and asks what he had to do to be saved. In other words, "I want what you have." I want the peace to sing while chained and shackled. I want the faith to pray while facing an uncertain future. How can I get that?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they said, and you will be saved, you and your household. This they also shared with the household of the jailer. So pleased was he with his new faith that he took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds from the severe beating they had been given; then he and his entire household were baptized without delay. He took them into his house and served them food and rejoicing came to them that he had become a believer in God.
Wow. Even demons know the importance of this relationship with God that some call salvation. Worship important enough to do daily. A faith that was worth the embarrassment of being naked and whipped. A hope in a God that even at midnight while in the most vile conditions allows for singing and praying. And a trust that even when set free by an earthquake to stay in the prison and to save the life of the jailer who would certainly have been executed for this prison break; all speak to me about the importance of knowing, loving, and trusting God like never before. What's sad is the number of excuses we come up with to not do any or most of the above. And oh, what we miss out on, when we put our convenience before our commitment.
PRAYER: Loving God, set me free. Set me to being and doing that which comes from knowing, loving and trusting You. I ask this in the name of He who opens prison doors. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
