Key Verse: Acts 16:30-31, "He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Have you ever hit your funny bone? You know what I'm talking about, although I'm sure this isn't the technical name for it. Often when I hit my elbow, first I feel a shooting pain, but right after I also have a desire to laugh. My arm hurts, but it makes me laugh, too. It's weird how pain and laughter can coexist. It doesn't make sense, but it happens.
This week we're looking at an equally improbable event. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, but they they led a worship service from their jail cell. How can someone experience such pain yet still sing? Our reaction to bad situations is one way we show a lost world that Christ is real. When we're able to see Christ in the midst of our pain, we find strength where others find only emptiness and despair.
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if we turn our troubles over to God, then we discover that God walks with us in the fire. And when we step out of the flames in one piece, everyone marvels at the fact that God provided help in our time on pain. God can help us become people who react like Paul and Silas did. The bad news is that is usually takes a lot of tough experiences to build that kind of character. But we have to start somewhere. And we don't have to do it alone.
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