Paul and Silas found themselves in a tough set of circumstances in Acts 16:22-29 “Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”
And these guys had every right to be upset with God, they could have said ‘God, I have been faithful, I have followed you, and now here I am in prison!’ They could have gotten depressed, and thought, ‘I’ve been thrown into prison, and God you have done nothing to prevent it. You have seated yourself back on your heavenly Throne arrayed in majesty, clothed in splendor, all the angels worshipping you and having a wonderful time and here I am in this miserable prison cell, surrounded by miserable people, and you have done nothing to prevent it. You are all powerful, you are Almighty God, and you let me get into this mess, how could you? Why didn’t you stop this from happening?’
They could have had a real pity party. They could have looked at those prison bars and said ‘I will be in this place forever! We should be out there serving God, preaching the gospel, but now we are chained to the wall, and there is no hope in sight!’ But they didn’t, they made a decision to focus on God and even in the midnight hour when things couldn’t look any worse, they chose to believe that God was still a good God! And they started to sing His praises, and the other prisoners listened to their joyful noise and thought, ‘these guys are crazy, they are no different to us, what are they so happy about?’
But little did they know, Paul and Silas had a little secret, and His name was Almighty God and as they focused on God and his power and ability to deliver and not on their circumstances, a mighty shaking began to take place! A Mighty Holy Spirit Earthquake shook the place! God has the power to shake everything holding us back from serving God and He did! The prison doors broke open and the jailer was frightened to the point he was about to kill himself, he thought they had all escaped!
What a difference it makes when we make the decision to focus on God. All of us have a choice we can let our focus on our circumstances get us down or we can focus on God and get excited about the power and ability of Almighty God. And when you do you better believe something will happen, a suddenly, an earthquake and God can turn things around quickly and you will be the one in charge of those circumstances! Your captors will come to you and cry out ‘what must I do to be saved!’ When God starts shaking everything shakes but God!
And then there was Abraham, God had made him some huge promises, unbelievable promises really, and finally it came to pass and God tested him and asked him to sacrifice his son, the child of the promise, that He had given him. And Abraham obeyed God thoroughly to the point he almost killed his only son. And then “the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.””
And God made him a promise, every time he doubted God, he could look to the stars and think about the promise of God. He had taken it to the wire and God had come through. He could have looked at the circumstances, but he chose to look to God’s faithfulness, he trusted God utterly and God said look up, I will do what I have said I will do.
And maybe you are feeling like Abraham, all God has promised you is on the altar and you are discouraged. I challenge you to dare to trust God, dare to continue to believe God and take him at His word. Lift up your eyes and look to the stars, God will bring His word to pass in your life, yes He may allow you to be tested, but He WILL come through if you continue to focus on Him.
God said to Abraham because you have been faithful, I want you to remember my promise, when you look up at the stars at night, and you feel a little down because it seems like nothing is happening I want you to remember my promise. God knew Abraham would be faithful and He knows your heart today, He knew Abraham needed a boost and sometimes only an encouraging word or miracle from the Almighty will do it.
And God was saying don’t look down, look up! Get your eyes off your circumstances, don’t put your trust in anything but Me, don’t look at your circumstances, they will depress you, keep your eyes on the stars – keep looking up, you have a bright future!
What God promises can seem so far fetched and impossible, but to reach your destination and your destiny you have to get your focus right. Friend, you can focus on the stars or the prison bars, the choice is yours, but your choice may determine your destiny.
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