Knowing When to Stay

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About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Acts 16:25-30

If you have been wrongly imprisoned and then there is an earthquake at midnight and all your chains fall off as well, would you not assume that God was releasing you and you should go free? Remember when Peter was in prison and the angel released him and he walked away?

The answer to the question of whether you walk away when your prison doors have been opened is fundamental to walking with Jesus. Christians have opportunities every day that are not the direction the Holy Spirit wants us to walk. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it, even if doing that thing would right a wrong that has been done to you.

The purpose of the earthquake was not to let Paul and Silas out of prison, but to wake the jailer and bring him to the point of accepting Jesus himself and becoming a follower as well.

 If Paul and Silas had simply walked away the jailer would have killed himself. Now the story even gets more amazing. The other prisoners who could have run away did not. The only hint we have about why is that they were listening to Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God. The story does not say that the other prisoners became believers in Christ, but you can only imagine the conversations that went on between the jailer and the other prisoners after Paul and Silas were released.

The bottom line for me is this: When the doors of my prison are opened I must always listen for the direction of the Holy Spirit before I simply walk away. His purpose may be the salvation of the jailer instead of providing a way for me to escape from my persecution!

“Lord, I need your wisdom today to know when to take a step and in what direction to take it. Even when the doors of my prison are opened help me to listen for your direction about whether or not I should leave. Amen!”