Christians are NOT Ordinary People

After Paul cast an evil spirit out of a slave girl who was being pimped by some local business leaders for the powers it gave her, he and his fellow worker, Silas, were stripped, beaten, and thrown into the local prison by the town’s magistrates (Acts 16:22-24). Ordinary people would have unhappily sat in that prison discouraged, or bitter, or frozen and fearful. Paul and Silas were none of those things, because they were not ordinary people.  Instead, they sang hymns to God -- a God for whom they were being persecuted -- which were loud enough for everyone to hear (Acts 16:25). This is in stark contrast to the reaction of the guard who was assigned to secure their incarceration. The night of their imprisonment an earthquake shook everything violently, the shackles that kept everyone in place fell free, and the doors to the prison were opened.  When the guard awoke and saw the open doors, he thought that his prisoners had escaped, so he set about to kill himself with his own sword -- likely out of fear of the consequences.  Paul stopped him by pointing out that he and Silas had not fled. 

The difference between Paul, Silas, and the guard is that Paul and Silas had a joy in the Lord. Their minds were so in tune with the reality of a God who loved them, that they were willing to endure hardship with song. Christians, after all, are not ordinary people. Instead, they are a people who are controlled not by a spirit of fear, but of love, of power, and of self-control (2 Timothy 1:7, Galatians 5:23). The guard, on the other hand, was so afraid of the world that he planned to kill himself before worldly powers could abuse him for the consequences of a supernatural earthquake that was completely out of his control. 

Interestingly, the event made the guard a believer. He was baptized, and then rejoiced with his whole house over his conversion. Some might be tempted to think that his salvation occurred because of a miraculous earthquake that broke shackles and opened doors.  Of course, the importance of the earthquake cannot be denied, but it pales in comparison to the supernatural self-control of Paul and Silas who stayed in prison when they could have fled. Because their love and respect for God was so great, they endured the potential for more danger in that dank prison, so that they could be used as instruments to save a man who was charged with keeping them confined for their loyalty to God’s work. The miracle wasn’t in God’s ability to shake the world he created, but in his ability to galvanize the love of men toward noble goals, sacrifice, and incredible self-control. 

The more you love God, the less ordinary you become. Unlike people controlled by worldly desires, you become joyful and self-controlled -- even when times are uncomfortable, challenging, or as dark as an ancient Roman prison.