Friday, May 30, 2025  

Today's Scripture
Acts 16:16–34

One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. (NRSV)

Reflection

Paul and Silas’ dramatic release from prison offers plenty of avenues for reflection — from the conversion of their jailer to the economic (rather than religious) nature of their imprisonment. Yet as I read through the text, one verse in particular jumped out to me: About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25).

Paul was certainly no stranger to imprisonment or hardship during his missionary journeys — yet his faith in the midst of such dire circumstances is remarkable. The preceding verses tell us Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with rods in public, followed by being placed in chains in the innermost cell — which likely meant that no light was able to enter in. And yet even in the midst of darkness, uncertainty, discomfort, and pain, Paul and Silas’ spirits were not overcome by them. Instead, they raise their voices in prayer and praise, seemingly to the confusion and curiosity of the other prisoners around them.

Finding hope in the midst of hardship has always been a challenging thing for me — and perhaps the same is true for you — but Paul and Silas’ ability to see the larger picture, and to trust that God is with them even in dire circumstances, is inspiring. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” Paul writes in Philippians 4:4 — so may we too hold on to a spirit of joy, a spirit of grace, and a spirit of hope no matter what lies ahead for us, today and in all our tomorrows.

Prayer

Written by Matt Helms, Associate Pastor

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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