Which Way Do You Sway?

Recommended Reading:  Acts 16:16-34

Continuing from last week, I had another thought on the above passage.

After Paul & Silas cast the evil spirit out of the young woman that kept following them around shouting, the people that were getting rich off the girl’s fortune telling got very upset since their cash cow was now useless.  So they stirred up a lot of people & reported them to the authorities with false reports.  They were badly beaten and thrown into prison, with a strong warning to the guard to make certain they didn’t escape.

“Around midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to the Lord—and the other prisoners were listening—suddenly there was a great earthquake; the prison was shaken to its foundations, all the doors flew open—and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer wakened to see the prison doors wide open, and assuming the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself.  But Paul yelled to him, ‘Don’t do it! We are all here!’”  (Verses 25-28 TLB)

Okay, think about that.  You were charged falsely about inciting trouble, you were beaten, you were thrown into a dirty, dark prison cell with chains on your legs & hands.  Would you be praying and singing?  If it were me, I might be praying, but I’m not so sure I’d be singing praises.  I’d probably be wringing my hands & crying out to God to get me out of that mess.  I’d sway toward self-pity.

But Paul & Silas accepted their circumstances with joy because they knew the enemy’s tactics well.  They knew they were functioning in the will of God and that Satan was compelled to intervene any way he could to try & discourage them.  But the Spirit within them would not let them get discouraged – it pushed them to sway toward joy.  Why?  Because God can always work any circumstance out for good.  (“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.”  Romans 8:28 VOICE)  

Again think about it.  There you are in that horrible prison cell, making the best out of your situation, and suddenly the earth begins to shake, all of the prison doors pop open and all of the chains fall off your hands and feet.  Would you just calmly sit there?  Or, would you jump up and escape from that place as quickly as you could?  I think I’d be hot footing it out of there as fast as I could.  I would sway to the easy way out.

But Paul & Silas just sat tight.  When Paul saw the guard, who thinking the prisoners had escaped was going to kill himself rather than face the torture he’d be exposed to by his superiors, yelled out to him not to do it, that everyone was there and accounted for.  If you read on in the passage you’ll see that not only did this guard beg them to show him how to be saved, but he took them to his home, cleaned their wounds, fed them and introduced them to his entire family.  They all ended up getting saved and baptized.  The good that came out of the bad is now revealed!

Paul & Silas being treated so badly could’ve swayed toward being upset & angry.  They could have swayed toward running out of that place and escaping, leaving that guard to pay the price with his life.  But they didn’t.  They swayed toward doing right and what needed to be done to bring glory to God.

The story doesn’t tell us about what happened with the other prisoners.  But I would imagine that they were touched when they heard Paul & Silas praying & singing hymns.  They were probably shocked when Paul called out and saved the life of that guard.  They were likely deeply moved when they saw the reaction of that guard asking how to be saved.  So there’s the chance many more people were saved that night as well, simply because they swayed toward doing God’s will.

“If you are easily swayed by your circumstances, your quality of life will be manipulated by the enemy of God.”  “The spiritual war requires great focus – and the ability to worship in dark places.”*

We need to have enough confidence in our God that we always know which way we will sway when confronted with difficult and dark circumstances.  Again I say, read God’s Word and pray regularly so that you will be well armed.

Written by Karran Martin – September 2, 2023

[All bold emphasis is mine]

*Quotes by Chris Tiegreen