Day 176

2 Kings 8:1–9:13; Acts 16:16-40; Psalm 143:1-12; Proverbs 17:26

IN THE BOOK of Acts, we have embarked on Paul’s second missionary journey. As with his first, light and darkness collided, leaving Paul in the center everywhere he went. Despite the struggle, fascinating opportunities emerged almost serendipitously around Paul. He seemed to take every encounter as an opportunity to be light in the midst of darkness (John 1:5).

In today’s reading, Paul and Silas were in the city of Philippi. Every day, they spent time at a common place of prayer near the water, sharing the Good News of the gospel. But each day, they encountered a slave girl who could predict the future through demonic influence.

“These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved,” she said (Acts 16:17). Exasperated, Paul commanded the demon to be cast away from her in the name of Jesus —and it left. The girl’s owners were outraged. Paul had destroyed the income potential she held for them by casting away her fortune-telling abilities. The owners incited a mob against Paul and Silas that resulted in severe beatings and imprisonment.

Around midnight, the badly bruised pair sat in chains within the prison, singing hymns of worship to God. The jail was silent as the other prisoners quietly listened to the gospel in song —and then an earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors flew open, unhinged from the shaking earth, and the jailer, thinking the prisoners had escaped, was about to kill himself.

“Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” Paul shouted (Acts 16:28). And when this proved true, the jailer fell before Paul and Silas, trembling. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” he asked (Acts 16:30).

In the darkest hours of the night, after being unjustly beaten and enduring the tumult of an earthquake, Paul and Silas shared the Good News with an entire household, and all came to faith in Jesus. Had this series of events not occurred, it is unlikely that Paul and Silas would have ever laid eyes on the dungeon keeper. Not only did they save his physical life but also they led him into eternal life.

Opportunities to spread light and Good News are limitless if we pay attention. Often, it is when we feel opposition or hardship —the times we usually isolate ourselves —that we have the greatest opportunity.

PRAYER:

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.