Praise In Suffering

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” Acts 

Everybody likes to attend parties. Whether it is a

·       Birthday Party

·       Graduation Party

·       Retirement Party

Or any other Type of fun celebration or party. But I don’t know of a single person that likes to attend a pity party! But yet we do, and for the most part they are not really fun.

If there was ever time to have a pity party, it would have been Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. They have been put in jail for doing good and they are having to suffer for it. They have been indicted on the charge of delivering a young girl from demonic possession. It would seem to be a cause for a celebration, but instead it led to a night in jail. This woman was being used for divination and soothsaying and a lot of money was going to be lost for the man in whom she worked for. Because of his influence over the town leadership this man had them beaten and thrown in jail. What was the response of Paul and Silas? Did they sing a song like Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To? No! They prayed and sang praises unto God. Paul and Silas didn’t have a pity party…they had a worship service!

I don’t mean to be critical as much as I desire to be truthful here. In all my years of ministry and preaching in three states, I have observed that most of the services that I have attended have been more like pity parties instead of celebration worship services. We tend to hear more:

·       Prayer request instead of praise reports

·       Negative sermons instead of uplifting sermons 

·       “Woe is me,” than “Hosanna, blessed be the name of the.” Lord.” (John 12:13)

·       “I almost didn’t come,” instead of “I was glad when they said let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalms 122:1)

·       “What an awful day,” instead of “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24)

Our attitude when we come together can have a direct influence on the service either for good or bad. The early church celebrated the most when they were persecuted the most. They counted themselves worthy when they suffered for the Lord, and it was through worship that their hearts were uplifted, and they found the strength, power, and courage to go on with the ministry. That’s why in a period of Jewish persecution the writer of Hebrews wrote, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 

But not only is an atmosphere of celebration important to us as believers, it can have a life changing effect on non-believers. It was Paul and Silas’ praises that lead to an earthquake and God opening up the prison doors. It was their praises that caused the jailor to say “What must I do to be saved?” (v. 30) It was their praising in their sufferings, that led the jailor and his whole house to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized.” (vv. 31-33) It was also in their praising that the jailor felt ashamed for their wounds and “washed their stripes.” (v.33) 

The lesson for us to learn is that because of their worshipful attitude, the iron bars and chains of sin were broken in this jailor’s life. Our sufferings should be in no way an excuse to pity ourselves. They are to incite us to praise God. And in doing so we may reflect Christ in the most rewarding way we can. Just like through his sufferings he reconciled mankind back to God; it is through our sufferings that he may use us to lead a soul to Christ!

Pastor Robby