I have nicknames for all my kids. I call Cale my heart,
Chloe my joy, Case my light, Cruz my hope... All things
that they have taught me or bring into my life etc.
This was Chloe and I’s conversation last week
C: “Why do you call Cale your heart?”
Me: “Because he is the one that made me a mom”
C: “Well, I am the one who makes you a hard-working mom”
I love her so much but she is my queen of one-liners and is
completely telling the truthJ
Do you have that person in your life that makes you a
hard-working Christian? They are just not easy to love. You want to act
non-christian to them and say non-christian things to them or about them.
-maybe a student of yours
-maybe your mother or mother-in-law
-maybe a parent
-maybe a child
-maybe a frienemy
We all have them! They can make our lives miserable. So how
do we deal with those that make life hard work?
“A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the
city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. There were
severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered
to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon
and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were
praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.”
There was an earthquake and all the doors flew open
and the chains were broken.
“The jailer woke up to see the doors wide open. He
assumed the prisoners escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul
Shouted, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!’…the jailer said, “Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:22-29
I know you are thinking, “there is no way in…..I can start
singing hymns and praying with this person.” (Just me?:))
The answer isn’t what they did, but who their focus was on.
It wasn’t on the jailer, who locked them up and most likely took part in the
beatings, it was on Jesus. They weren’t focused on the beating of their body,
but the raised body of Jesus. They weren’t focused on their pain physically,
but on the one that saved them spiritually. They weren’t focused on the enemy
that put them there, but the God that could get them out.
We see what honest to goodness faith in the one True God
looks like in this story and we can all experience it. The encouraging thing is
when we do, like Paul and Silas everybody is watching and/or listening. That is
when we get to rejoice because what the enemy meant to drive us over the edge
is what God uses to make lost people found!
