Listen to this devotion
How, Lord … can I face what seems impossible?
In the Word
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High (Psalm 9:1–2).
Of the Word
Lies. Arrest. Torture. Imprisonment. Darkness. How would most of us react to such a series of events? Anger and fear? Demands for a lawyer?
In Acts 16, the apostle Paul and his friend Silas experienced horrible treatment. They were slandered, beaten, thrown into the prison, and fastened down. Unimaginable today in the United States! What did Paul and Silas do? They prayed and sang praises to God in the middle of the night, in the middle of the prison, in the middle of their pain! Unimaginable anywhere!
They did not know that God’s amazing rescue — an earthquake that freed them and all the other prisoners — was only moments away. They did not know that the jailer would come to faith that very night. They did not know that they would be released by the city magistrates the very next day. But they sang anyway! Even in the midst of our troubles, we, too have reason to pray and sing. Our God knows where we are, and He is in control.
Walking with my Lord
Dear God, when my life is one difficulty after another, help me to pray and sing praises to You, for You are my Deliverer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Mustard Seed: How, Lord? Marcia Gomulka and Myrna Lou Meyer, authors. 21/32 ©2011 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, 801 Seminary Place Ste. L010, St. Louis, MO 63105. www.lwml.org
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations were taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved worldwide.
