The Long Haul

Acts 16: 24-25

Which taking such a direction, threw them into an inner imprisonment and secured their feet in stocks. And about midnight, Paul and Silas praying, praised God with hymns, and the imprisoned ones heard.

  Prison. One man’s garden is another man’s penitentiary? A prison doesn’t always have bars. A derogatory term, a prison is a place of negative connotation, an inhibiting force with restraining chains, possibly invisible chains, i.e., stuck in a job or a marriage or a mortgage.

Paul and Silas found themselves in a prison cell, complete with stocks and bars. What was their go-to? Praise God in song. Paul did it and was able to write about it later:

1 Thessalonians 5: 16 -17 rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Why would rejoice always and pray continually be God’s will in Christ Jesus? Because rejoice in persecution, and go pray in an inner room are two of Jesus’ 20 commands. Paul’s inner room for prayer was the inner prison cell. Whatever the inner room looks like, pray in it.

Those who sign up to imitate Jesus learn to do the difficult. They know the choice is between personal comfort and personal sacrifice. Those who have the ‘follow Jesus’ mentality don’t get too close to personal discomfort, and when found in it, only look for the way out of it rather than to rejoice in it.

Paul and Silas’ testimony (or witness) to the other cell mates must have been a powerful one: Those in Christ praise God in difficult circumstances. Why? Because they trust God with the outcome. Paul and Silas produced spirit-fruit rather than sins of carnality; peace and joy rather than anger and discord. The other prisoners were quite possibly motivated and encouraged by the spirit-fruit floating in the room. Sins of carnality, they were already familiar with. Those do not encourage anybody. But peace, joy, faithfulness and self-restraint, well, that’s fuel for the long haul.