Has God ever broken into your life or someone you know? A man I got to know experienced God breaking into his life during a terminal illness. He was far from God until the Lord broke in and drew him to himself. During his illness the Lord showed him what was really important in life. During his illness the Lord healed family relationships. In his illness the Lord transformed a once selfish man into a new creation full of love and hope. In a figurative sense he went from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Isaiah 64:8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. [1]
While Paul and Silas were praising God in their prison cell something began to happen. Praises were going up to God transforming the prison into a sanctuary filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul and Silas’s praises began to change the hearts of the other prisoners who listened to them intently.
Acts 16:25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off![2]
God broke in and the spiritual invaded the physical. Suddenly chains fell off the prisoners in the physical. The prisoners were listening when Paul and Silas praised God. The praise helped their spiritual chains fall off. God was breaking into not only the lives of Paul and Silas, but the lives of the prisoners and the jailer.
What does this tell us about God?
- He listens to our prayers and praises.
- The Lord Jesus came to set the captives free from spiritual captivity.
- God breaks into our lives in ways we would never think of or imagine.
- God uses people led by the Holy Spirit to witness to others.
There is not a day that goes by that the Holy Spirit is not breaking into our lives, convicting us of sin, encouraging, and guiding us. We have free will to resist or embrace the Holy Spirit. To hear more about the praise of Paul and Silas, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/hope-in-prison
[1,2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.