Faith in the Midst of Fear
Passage to be read: Acts 16: 16-40
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God
as the other prisoners listened."
(Acts 16: 25)
It is dark all around. The deadly silence that prevails around us kills. And more than anything, the thought that we are tied to something without moving according to our liberty just makes us sink. Fear slowly and steadily grows in us. And where does our faith go at such times? My dear friends in Christ Jesus, let me remind you something. Fear and faith, cannot co-exist. It's a choice!
Accused of preaching the good news of Christ Jesus, and condemned of doing good in the society, Paul and Silas are put into jail. Spiritually it was not an easy time for them to endure. The damage was worse than they could have ever imagined. It was a spiritual and ministerial shock ever. But, as two men who knew the love of God and the mission He had given them, they endured through the pain with faith.
Acts 16: 22-24 says, "The crowd joined the attack against them. The Roman officers tore the clothes of Paul and Silas and had them beaten with rods. Then Paul and Silas were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to guard them carefully. When he heard this order, he put them far inside the jail and pinned their feet down between large blocks of wood." Outside and inside the jail, things were worse. Outside, the crowd treated them in the most gruesome way, and inside the jail, the officers did the worst. But, what did Paul and Silas do?
If we could possibly imagine the mindset of Paul and Silas at this time of their life, we could conduct a quick comparative study, while imagining how we would have behaved under the same conditions - may be, we would have said hundreds of silent-whispering prayers, crying to God to rescue us from the circumstances. But Paul and Silas, the Bible says, "About midnight, were praying and singing songs to God as the other prisoners listened" (Acts 16:25). Wow! I find three amazing facts in this.
It was midnight. The most silent time of the night. The most vulnerable time for them to be heard by the officers, and for the same gruesome treatment to continue. But they expressed their faith in the Lord without fear. That's really challenging my friend.
Praying and Singing. As I mentioned earlier, for many of us, the greatest leap of faith in such conditions would be a silent prayer, crying unto the Lord to save. Probably not a joyous time of worship, while singing and praising God for what He is and what He has done. But Paul and Silas did. That's how their faith was expressed, fear was pushed away.
Other prisoners listened. The time of the day they chose (midnight), and the way they expressed their faith (singing) were not just to express their boldness in faith, but also there was evangelism on progress; gospel was being shared. The prisoners listened as they sang and prayed. Can we say that they took advantage of this precious moment to share the good news and to proclaim their belief? Yes, I believe.
So, next time when everything around us goes against us, and challenges our faith, putting us into the dungeon of fear, how is our expression of faith going to be? Is it going to be a call out for help? Or an expression of faith? We have to choose.
Once again let me remind you, dearest friend in Christ. Fear and Faith cannot co-exist! It is your choice. At every moment of our lives, we have this choice. To fear the circumstances and to drown into the ocean of troubles, or to have faith in God and trust Him in knowing that He is in control of the situation.
Faith, in the midst of fear, is the best expression of our faith in the Lord our God, and the greatest claim that we as God's children could ever stand for.
I pray that God will lead all of us into a closer walk of faith with Him, as we continue to have our strong faith in Him even in the midst of the most fearful circumstances.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
