Hey Happy Cat,
I was going through a rough time a few weeks ago, my husband's job is in jeopardy, his father (80 yrs old) found out he has prostate cancer and some issues at my work. I know God is faithful but He used another sister in Christ to bring me this message and I want to share it with you because it helped me refocus on what was important.
In an Email from Sheila Walsh:
From Women of faith session
Part of the message that I share this year is a truth that I am being shaped by. In Acts, 16 we read about Paul and Silas' missionary trip to Philippi.
The story begins as they were walking through the marketplace one day when a demon possessed girl began to follow them and call out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved."
This went on for days and finally Paul was tired of her constant distracting shouts so he turned to her and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" Well, the demon immediately left her. She was overjoyed but she was a slave and her owners were furious. They used her > demonic possession to make money as a fortune teller and now she was unable to do it. In what seems like ridiculous irony, the men had Paul and Silas brought before local authorities on the charge that they were disturbing the
Pax Romana - Roman peace! The crowd turned on these two godly men and the local magistrate h! ad them stripped, flogged and thrown in jail. The jailor was instructed to make sure that they were under the strictest security. He put them in the darkest, innermost cell and locked their feet in the stocks.
Paul and Silas were both Roman citizens and should not have been treated this way but when darkness tries to have its way, it can seem that all that is right and true is gone. At midnight, we are given a glimpse into their cell. It is the darkest time of night and they are in dark circumstances.
I'm sure they began that day by asking God to guide their footsteps and watch over them but now they sat bruised and bloodied and imprisoned. As I imagine, them there, here is what I think appened. I am sure they looked at the plans they had for the day and how everything they planned had gone wrong but then they asked themselves a life changing question:
What has not changed?
God!/>
God is still on the throne! God is still in control! God still loves us!
So they did the only reasonable thing - they began to worship!
I'm sure you know the rest of the story. God send a violent earthquake to shake the jail and the chains of every prisoner in that jail fell off. The guard was terrified and was about to take his own life before Paul called out to him to stop. By Roman law if he had lost his prisoners, he now received their punishment...but they were all still there. That night, Paul led this man and his family into a relationship with the Risen Christ!
As you think about your life today I wonder how much of it is going as you planned and how much seems out of control? Does it feel to you that darkness is winning? It is very tempting to be impacted by our immediate circumstances that can change in a moment and forget what never changes -
our Father in Heaven.
Perhaps the next time you feel side-swiped by life and sit in a dark place you might ask yourself:
What has not changed?
God!
You might just want to do the only reasonable thing - you might begin to worship!
God is still on the throne and still cares for His own!
May God's grace, His peace and His love fill you today and every day.
