Really, really bad situations Acts 16:22-34

In the last three years, I have gone through the roughest situation in my life.  Outwardly, it was constant health problems: cancer, heart, and now lung problems.  But to me, the bigger problems were spiritual.

My Christian life felt broken.  I didn’t feel like I could trust God.  Everything I thought I knew about God didn’t seem true.  I knew what I thought the Bible said about God, but it didn’t seem to match real life.

After I got about as low as I could go, God started putting me back together again.  One small piece at a time.

But this lesson isn’t about me.

In the last few weeks, I have talked to some people whose problems seem so much greater than mine.  When people start telling us their problems, and here I’m told men have different reactions than women, women will tend to just listen and sympathize, men will try to fix them.

I’m a man.  I try to fix things.  Not things around the house, which I’m not good at, but things in life, political things, cultural things, spiritual things. 

Part of this healing process for me has been these Bible studies.  One friend suggested doing fewer of them.  There are too many of them.  People might watch or read more of them.  I told him, I can’t just sit down and do a study.  That wouldn’t get anywhere.

They come to me.  Often in the middle of the night.  Right now it’s 4:26 A.M.   When I wrote that an hour ago.

So I woke up and these people came to mind.  What can I say to people who are in really, really bad situations? 

And this is what came to me tonight.

Were there people in the Bible in really, really bad situations?  And then I thought of three.

In Bible days, possibly the worst situation a person could be in, apart from a person like Job, who had a lot of physical suffering, which we’ll probably talk about at some point, was being in prison.  Not only were the conditions miserable in every sense of the word, there was very little thought of ever getting out. 

First, there was Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt.  His story starts in Genesis 37.  He was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison.  It’s hard to beat that as a really, really bad situation.

But the Bible says that God was with him.  I’ve been asking God a dozen times a day for some time now, Are You with me?  I have no problem sensing God’s presence.  But I’ve had a real problem with believing in His favor.  I felt like I had failed him too often in the past, and He couldn’t really trust me, to do anything with me.

And part of His putting me back together has been these Bible studies.  I do them out of obedience. 

But back to Joseph.  He had had dreams before all this happened to him that God had plans for his life.  That probably gave him hope.  But in the face of prison in Egypt for a crime he didn’t do, that’s still a stretch. 

What started the mending process for me was the simple recognition that God is God.  He is the Creator.  He is worthy of praise for who He is, regardless of whatever I think He should or shouldn’t have done in my life or anywhere in life.  Like the burnt offerings in the temple that God wanted to be going continuously, with a morning and evening sacrifice, I began offering my own sacrifice at least twice a day and throughout the day.  Give thanks to the Lord for He is good,  His lovingkindness is forever.  Those are the words used most often in the Bible when offering praise to God.

When I started doing that, as I said before, my life started to mend.

Then there is the story of Peter in Acts 12.  James was killed with the sword by Herod, and Peter was thrown into prison to be killed shortly.  But the Bible says that prayer was being made fervently for him. 

And on the night before he was to be executed, an angel took him out of prison.  Peter thought it was a very vivid dream, but standing outside in the cool dark night, he realized he was free. 

Now I’m sure a lot of people will think here of times that they prayed fervently about something, and the prayers were not answered.  At least the way they were hoping.  I suspect most of these had to do with prayers for other people, where we just don’t know everything. 

So I’m praying for these people fervently.  But I don’t know everything.

The last example was Paul and Silas.  They were beaten and put in the inner dungeon with their feet either in chains or locked in stocks.

Now that’s a really, really bad situation.  What did they do?  They began singing hymns to God as prayers.  Right out loud in front of all the other prisoners.  God sent an earthquake that released all the bonds and opened all the doors.  They didn’t escape, but they ended up having dinner with the jailer and his family after the jailer became a Christian.  They were released from prison the next day.

They sang hymns to God, openly, unashamedly.   

The first time I had cancer, almost 25 years ago, I was in a very low sad state of mind, and God clearly told me to rejoice and give thanks.  Now that was hard.  But I really think it had a lot to do with not having any treatment and getting a normal test result.

I can pray for these people, and maybe they will watch or read this lesson.  God is the one who has to deliver them.  He can, and He would like to.  The first step is to worship and give thanks to God.  Not because we like the situation we are in, but because He is God, and He is worthy. 

Are you having a really, really hard time?  Tell him all about it while you are thanking and worshiping Him, but then listen, for He will tell you what do to next if not just deliver you.