Change In Chains*

Read

Acts 16:23–34 KJV 1900

And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Introduction

I recall a time when I was working at Food Lion as a Cashier.

I had just started College and was taking every opportunity I had to make money.

I found myself working long hours, sometimes as much as 16 hour days so I could have enough money to meet my needs and save some money.

I would literally work shifts where I would open and close the door on the same day and come in the next morning to open the store.

In addition, I was also a full-time student, developing my ministry, and actively engaging in the political process. To give you an idea of what I was doing at the time;

I was an Honors Student

Treasurer of the College Democrats at UNCG

Assisting with the Youth Ministry at St. Thomas Chapel

Teaching Bible Classes on Campus

and Working on the Hillary Clinton Campaign

Some days I would wake up at 5am, go to sleep again at 4am, and be up to do it all over again because I was hard at work.

Many days felt extraordinarily long, such that I often felt like I was prisoner in my own life.

Anybody ever felt that way about your life

Every day, you felt like you were working against your own best interests as you worked to supply your own needs as well as those of anyone associated with you.

You wake up every day and because you have bills you are forced to go to a job you do not like and serve a population that you could care less about.

You may like your job now, but all of us have been in those situations where you had to work a job and the only thing that kept you was thinking about the car outside (and the payment on it), the house you lived in, the kids you had to feed, and the lights that had to be one.

You find yourself getting up and going to Church because family tradition obligates that you go and you ignore your Internal screams that let you know you are not getting spiritually fed.

You continually force yourself to entertain family and friends who serve you no good whatsoever but for the sake of consistency you keep them around.

In each case, you have become a prisoner to your own circumstances and you allow your life to take control of you. You allow your preferences and interests to take a backseat to the things in your life that you do not even want to do.

However, each of these cases also represent opportunities where you have allowed your circumstances to dictate to your faith. Im not saying quit your job, walk out on your Church, or abandon your family. But, it is through the lens of faith that you can see each of these circumstances for what they really are… opportunity.

In each of these cases, you can use your own troubles as a time to build faith and create a testimony.

Their was a day, when I was still working at Food Lion, I opened the store and a gentleman came in immediately when we opened the doors. He seemed worried and stressed, and I remember him buying some medication and he expressed to me that his daughter was sick.

He never explained what was wrong but had told me she had been up all night and he could not afford to take her to the hospital.

I also remember that he used dollars and a lot of change to pay for the medication and he did not have enough money.

So I just covered the purchase because I knew I could compensate for it in my drawer throughout the day. But his stituation struck me because the desperate nature of the situation really put things in perspective for me that day.

See, I was aggravated because of my work schedule and overall businesses.

At the time, my finances were pretty clear and I had few worries.

How can I be worried about an early work schedule when their are people in the world who literally cannot afford basic medications and medical care for themselves/ or their children.

And I worked that entire day, only taking 2-30 minute lunches at varying points throughout my day.

Then I looked up in my line and saw that man standing there and his eyes lit up as he looked at me.

I asked him how his daughter was and he picked her up from behind the counter and smiled so big I thought his face would get stuck.

Despite my situation being less than favorable, because I literally was trapped in my job for nearly 16 hours, I was able to change that man’s life. And that is what I want to talk about with you all today.

Subject: Change In Chains

Acts 16:23-34

Here in the text, we see that Paul and Silas have been arrested and placed in jail.