Tonight was an amazing night at church. All six kids behaved, and I enjoyed the study too.
What woke me up at 4amish here was Mr. HS Himself, reminding me to share.
Acts 16:25-30 is a story so many of us know well. Paul & Silas were in prison after being beaten, doing nothing but praising God. As if this wasn't remarkable enough, God sent an earthquake that broke all the prisoners chains and threw open the doors. The guard is about to commit suicide, but Paul stops him, saying "Wait. We are all here."
Paul was freed by God from the circumstances, but CHOSE to stay in a horrible situation to minister to that jailer.
Want to see your ministry take off? Leave your comfort zone. Whether it's holding that child you KNOW is going to puke on you again, taking homeless Joe to the Y for a shower and the laundromat to wash his clothes, or traveling across the world to war zones and third world countries, ministries where people voluntarily put themselves beyond their "zone" when they are called are blessed, because it so clearly God.
Furthermore, Paul really didn't "have" to be in that prison in the first place, even under the law of man at that time. He was a Roman citizen. Instead of singing and praising God, he could have been demanding his "rights." But he didn't. He yielded his rights to serve God's purpose.
He did eventually claim his "rights", but it was in the right spirit, and to protect the ministry being born in Philippi. How important was that ministry. Well, there is that little book called Philippians. Eventually, Paul left his own spiritual "son" Timothy, to oversee there. The implications for that in our lives is a whole 'nother post.
Now it's 4:15am, and I am so not a morning person. I'm going back to bed.
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