Acts 16

²²And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

²³And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

²⁴Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

²⁵And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

Paul and Silas did not just pray in their extreme hardship but also sang. What a testimony to the prisoners. Others were struggling with prison conditions, some hoping to find ways to escape, others were perhaps bitter with their treatment, and some in despair; but these two men were radically different than the rest by their singing. What made them so different in their reaction to hard conditions because they had obeyed Christ? We know it was the great joy of the Lord Jesus Christ who was being greatly glorified in their intense suffering for His name’s sake.

We may have to suffer for His name’s sake at work or in witnessing, in family relations or with friends who once were very friendly to us but when we stood for Christ became very cold toward us.

May the joy of the Lord be our strength to such extend that instead of discouragement we too can sing to Him for giving us the privilege of suffering for His sake.

Brother Shahab