Read:
Think back over your life. Is there someone who made a great impact on you? Perhaps in school, or in sports, or in your family. Perhaps it was someone you knew when you were young, or someone you met more recently. There is a man in the Bible who would say the two people that changed his life were Paul and Silas.
Paul and Silas shared the truth of Jesus Christ wherever they went. They did this in the synagogues, in the marketplace, in the countryside. One day they made the wrong people angry and landed in prison, and they even shared Jesus Christ there.
If modern prisons are bad, ancient prisons were unbelievably worse. They were crowded and dirty, and you only ate if your family brought you food. You were as likely to die in prison because of disease as you were to serve out your sentence. And there were no humanitarian groups to ensure that prisoners were treated well and fairly.
And yet Paul and Silas were “praying and singing hymns to God.” Awful circumstances to be sure, but they knew the character of God and the joy of salvation, and that was reason enough to praise God.
There were other people in prison. There were guards there, too, watching and listening. When God miraculously opened the prison doors, the guard knew he’d be blamed and thought death was better than the punishment he’d receive, but Paul stopped him. “We’re all here!” Their praise of God in this circumstance and their integrity moved this man to believe in Jesus.
No matter what circumstances you face today, remember that each one is an opportunity.
Every circumstance can increase our faith. They can also be a witness of the love and grace and joy of God. “If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” (1 Peter 3:15) When your circumstances are hard, look for ways to show people that God is good.