In the event that you do not know me personally, I must inform you that I am not a musician, nor do I have the “greatest” voice in the world. In fact, to cover my comments on my abilities, just ask my children. Fortunately, that has not been the case with them. Like so many others I give it a try as needed and like many of you, the shower still seems the best place for my renditions.
I am aware that the Apostle Paul went through many trying experiences, as I mentioned recently. One of those came as a result of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was in complete opposition to what he had previously preached as a Pharisee. He, along with a few others, was placed under confinement in a jail cell. No matter how belittling the experience, he remained undaunted.
In the middle of the night they decided to sing and pray. The praying was what most of us would do under such circumstances. However, singing is not the norm for such confinement. How good or bad it might have been, God used it as the catalyst to do something spectacular.
Whether other prisoners wanted to or not, they heard what was going on. Obviously the guard heard, because when “suddenly, there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened”, he took his sword and was going to commit suicide, knowing what would be his punishment.
Paul and Silas responded to all of this by saying, “Do not harm your-self, for we are all here.” It became a joyous occasion when the jailer “Fell down before Paul and Silas and asked: ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”
In the shortest sermon possible they said: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” It is then that they taught him and his household more, with the result that they were all baptized.
When the morning came, the magistrate had them released. How much he knew of their release from sin and experience of salvation prior to the arrival of those men may allow reflection, but he learned about it when Paul and Silas demanded that he come and release them himself.
There are many facets to all of this, but I focus at this moment that Paul and Silas knew how to sing in the most trying moments. It is something that I have been working on for years. God does something FOR US and THROUGH US when we allow Him to have the glory. Though you or I may feel that we have limitations, let God surprise us. Our tune and tone may not be the best, but God can use it in His way and time to bring about another’s salvation and assist them in maturing in Him.
ETCetera 