Trials or Opportunities

Trials or Opportunities
Acts 16-21
“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” (16:25).
It had not been a good day. In fact, it had been a day that would cause many to question whether their ministry was worth the pain. When Paul began his second missionary journey, he intended to travel the same route as the first and revisit the churches he had established. However, when they began their journey, something happened that changed everything. The text does not specifically tell us what led to the change of plans. Whatever the external circumstances Paul encountered, he saw them as the work of the Holy Spirit preventing him. It was not until they arrived in Troas that God made his plans clear. Instead of revisiting the churches, God desired for them to embark into the unreached regions of Macedonia and Europe. At first, when they arrived in Philippi, things looked positive. Paul met a woman named Lydia, and she became the first convert on the European continent. However, things then turned dark and foreboding. Instead of seeing a revival, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. Suffering the pain of their beating, they would have found it easy to become discouraged and question the wisdom of entering the city. If I were in their circumstances, I would have been frustrated and angry at God for leading me to such a dark place. I would have been trying to figure out how to get out of the prison and hightail it back to the safety of Jerusalem.  
However, Paul and Silas had a different perspective. Instead of bemoaning their treatment, they were singing praises that resonated throughout the prison (16:25). What is even more remarkable is that, when they were being beaten, they remained silent about their Roman citizenship. Why they waited until the morning after the beating to appeal to their citizenship, we can only speculate. What we do know is that God was orchestrating the events to accomplish a greater purpose, the salvation of the Jailer and his whole family (32-34). While the text does not tell us, we do know that, through the work of Paul in Philippi, a strong church was established. From a human perspective, the events that transpired seemed to point to failure and adversity. But from God’s perspective, it was all part of his design to establish the church in this idolatrous city, and he used the adversity that Paul and Silas encountered to accomplish it. Being thrown into prison was part of God’s design to achieve eternal consequence.
Often, we look at our lives and it seems as if God has forgotten us or neglected to care for us. We experience tragedies and struggles that seem incompatible with our belief that God and his plans are perfect. When we are going through the struggles of life, we sometimes wonder why and where God is. However, we often see life only in the context of the present rather than the future. We face circumstances that lead us to question God’s care and involvement in our lives. What we cannot perceive is the chain of events that God is orchestrating to achieve his eternal purpose. While we perceive life only through hindsight, God orchestrates our lives with perfect foresight. In the present, we cannot foresee how the events of today affect the lives of others in the future and for eternity. But God can. When we realize that God is in control and that his plan is perfect, orchestrating events to achieve what is eternally good, then we can find peace and comfort even in the present struggles we face. When life pivots on the unexpected, we can be assured that the one who orchestrated the change already knows the outcome. What we see as a trial, God sees as an opportunity.