UNCOMMEN: A to B, What's Your PathSample

Long Way Out Of The Prison

In the fourth installment of our series A to B, we will be reading through the events of Paul and Silas in Acts 16. This lesson will be slightly different. In previous days, we have looked throughout the person's life; however, in this lesson, we will be looking at a specific moment because Paul has many situations that fall within our topic of paths. For our purpose today, we will be looking at the imprisonment of Paul and Silas.

It starts in verse 16, with Paul commanding a spirit out of a girl. It sounds like a good act, right? Well, her owners were not so pleased with the loss of money this caused. So the owners brought Paul and Silas to court, claiming they were throwing the city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for the Romans to accept or practice. The crowds also turned on Paul and Silas, echoing their complaints. These complaints resulted in them getting flogged and beaten severely and thrown in jail. 

Talk about a bad day. I can only imagine how Paul and Silas felt after casting out a spirit from a woman to then be met with such opposition and penalized so heavily for it. I am sure they were a little confused. But luckily our story doesn't end there.

Once in prison, Paul and Silas were placed in the inner cell and fastened to stocks at their feet. At midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, there was a violent earthquake that shook the prison at its foundations. At once, the jail doors opened, and the chains fell off the prisoners. When the jailer woke, he saw the doors open and was going to kill himself instead of meeting the punishment of those higher up than him. But Paul stopped him. None of the prisoners left; they were all still there. The guard asked Paul and Silas a question after he brought them out of their cell. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 

Paul and Silas had to take this path. It certainly was not the one they probably preferred. But if they hadn't gone down this path, they wouldn't have been able to share the gospel with this man. It is essential to realize that, in some cases, we are at a point on our path where we can help someone else. We are called to sharpen each other, so make sure you keep an eye out for situations like this. The jailer who they shared the gospel with came to believe God, and so did his household.

Uncommen Questions: 

Are you looking at those around you to offer your help? 

Is there something that you have gone through that could help someone else later on?

Uncommen Challenge: 

I challenge you to set up a system with other men to sharpen each other by sharing difficulties you have gone through or are going through in your life.

Scripture Reference:
Acts 16:16-23