I have found that one of the best ways that I can encourage myself in the Lord is to meditate upon scripture and keep my mind centered upon spiritual thoughts. Sometimes the greatest battles we face are in our minds! I often find myself reading a passage from the Bible or getting a song on my mind that I think of over and over for days, and doing so helps sustain me.
I recently revisited a familiar Bible story with Bryson. I told him about Paul and Silas being thrown in prison for preaching. As I told the story, I tried to tell it in a way that would be simple enough to grasp and detailed enough to be entertaining, and I was drawn into the story myself. As I described how they were put in that dark and smelly prison for doing nothing wrong, I wondered how they must have felt, really. Were they feeling a little sorry for themselves that doing what they believed pleased God got them into such a terrible and unfair circumstance? I'm sure they were sore from being beaten, hungry from lack of food, and worried about what was going to happen to them next. I've seen pictures that children color in Sunday School class that show two men sitting in a bright room, just the two of them, wearing seemingly clean clothes, and looking fairly pleasant considering their hands and feet are in wooden stocks. I know that for kids, that is probably an appropriate way to begin learning the story, but I honestly doubt they looked that good. They could have been in a crowded room; I'd say their clothing was ripped and dirty, and they were probably feeling weak, tired, and lonely sitting in that prison cell. What a test of faith! Had God forgotten about them? How could He allow such injustice to occur?
At some point, and I wonder just how it happened, one of them must have started to sing a song. It may have begun as a whisper. I'd say that at first their voices were a little rusty and weak, but I imagine that the more they sang, the louder and stronger their voices became as they started to feel the joy of the Lord. I'd say that the other prisoners thought they had lost their minds as they witnessed those two dirty preachers singing praises to their God who had seemingly forsaken them!
Something that struck me as I talked to Bryson was how Paul and Silas started singing praises to God with no expectation. We always hear about Paul and Silas singing, the jail shaking, and them being set free as if they knew that God would deliver them. But I'm not so sure they thought He would deliver them; they were just praising Him from hearts that desired to praise God despite where they were and what was happening to them.
Yes, their singing must have gotten God's attention, just as it got the attention of their prisonmates. God sent an earthquake to shake that prison, break the chains, and open the doors to the cells. I think if that happened to me, I'd get out of that place as quickly as possible and not look back, but no, Paul and Silas reached out to the jailer, and he was converted.
I've always thought that was an amazing story, but I've thought a lot lately about those men who just did what came natural to them, sing praises to God, even in a dark time in their life. They didn't know God would come to their rescue then; they could have easily been killed the next day. But God was so moved by their praise that He moved for them!
I'd love to have that spirit that Paul and Silas had that says, I'm going to offer praise even when I don't feel like it, even when I've been given a seemingly unfair circumstance to endure, and even if I don't know if it's going to get any better any time soon. I don't understand why things happen the way they do, but I know God is watching and waiting to see how I respond. I don't want to just praise Him in hopes that He will get me out of my mess, but I want to praise Him despite of my mess!
Bethany
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