About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God; and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
Today many people have given up on God because of the ‘bad things that are happening to good people’ and the much evil going on in our world and God seems not to be doing anything at all. If God is good and powerful, they assert, why is He not doing something about these situations?
Oprah Winfrey quoted Matthew 10:34-35 as the reason for her not believing in God: (“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law). But why will Paul and Silas, servants of God, be beaten to a pulp and thrown in jail and still pray and praise God who did not deliver them from their persecutors? Answer: For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, Phil. 1:29.
Jesus Christ did no wrong but was falsely charged and crucified. When we are in the right place and doing the right thing and we suffer for the sake of Christ, we will wear the crown and reign with Him. When we suffer for righteousness sake or simply for being Christ followers and we give God praise for the opportunity to suffer thus, we confirm the genuiness of the faith we possess.
Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is EMS/SIM Missionary. He serves as Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions; Pastors of ECWA Chicago and ECWA USA DCC Chairman.
