Acts 16

Read Acts 16

God is on the move again advancing his church. In this chapter he leads Paul and Silas by way of vision and by way of pain. We’re all about the visions, or at least I think we would be if we had them. And God clearly leads his people on occasion through very mystical sorts of means like He does in vs.9 with Paul. But much more often God leads with pain.

So here is how this story plays out. Paul and co. preach the gospel. They see one convert. They are chased by a freaky, fortune teller all around town. It gets really annoying, so Paul commands the “spirit” to leave the girl alone. She was a hot act, so her owners get pretty ticked off. They stir up the crowd and the city officials. Paul and Silas get mauled and land in the clink. Their feet are put in stocks, they are probably in total darkness, rats and vermin crawling all over them, the ground is most likely covered with human waste, and why is this happening? Because they were being obedient. They follow God and go to where he told them to go in a vision, and that grand vision has landed them in a dungeon. So Paul and Silas sing and pray. It sounds crazy, but that is what they do. Unlike you or I, Paul and Silas do not assume God misled, but that this pain is part of the plan. In fact, you kind of get the feeling they almost expected it. They preach the gospel in the city, and they get one convert. They get thrown into a dungeon, and they assume this is where God must want them to preach the gospel. The pain isn’t an obstacle. It’s just a guidepost. It eventually leads to presenting the gospel to the jailer and his family, who are most astonishingly converted. Those conversions would never have been possible had not Paul and Silas been in prison or been willing to sing the gospel.

So the message that I’m preaching myself today is this: “Don’t waste your pain. Your problems and trials are opening doors of opportunity. Don’t just get abused by your struggles. Assume that they are part of God's plan to direct me to places of ministry.”