Praising Through Pain

We have all faced tough situations, had our prayers unanswered and felt so alone. One thing is sure, we can never deal with pain by ignoring it and hoping it'll all just go away. It doesn't help to wallow in self-pity either. Paul and Silas experienced pain. They were at this time in a town called Philippi for the purpose of winning the lost when the very people they went to save turned against them with such hatred and spite because Paul had cast out an evil spirit in a girl who brought profit to her master. Acts 16:12-19 

Think of a man under the weight of a crushing car about to die and 'superman' comes along to save him only to have the dying man curse him out and hurl stones at him with the very last breath in him. In verse 22 of Acts chapter 16, the multitudes rose together against them, delivered them to the mob, beat them with rods and threw them both into the dungeon. There they lay, on the bare cold and hard floor. Their backs flayed and bleeding... But there, in that dark cold cell where they were forsaken, rejected and afflicted, they sang praises to the God of heaven and earth. They replaced their hopelessness with joy. The devil couldn't steal their joy, he had their bodies bound but their spirits were free, free and unbreakable.

Though their feet were in the stocks(which was a very uncomfortable position since their legs would have been extended to its widest possible limit, producing extreme pain), their praises sprang forth from within in spite of their troubled circumstances..

Let us like Paul and Silas rise in the midst of darkness and praise. They rose and prayed then began to praise. Let our prayers never end in despondency, let them always end in praise.

Can we find courage to praise God through tears as we journey through life? 

Can we surrender in the midst of confusion, anguish and depression and stay surrendered?

Can we look beyond the chains on our feet and let our spirits free?

Paul and Silas did and the chains fell off. Deliverance was wrought for hundreds of others in the Roman prison also. We can be people who uplift the spirits of others in despair if only we knew the God we serve. If only we knew that we are the apples of His eyes. If only we could see that He has engrafted our names on the palms of His hands and that nothing can separate us from the love of Our God. 

Decide to look beyond the chains and see God's greatness, Holiness, Wonder and Providence.