After you suffer awhile.

Act 16:25  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 

Remember they were BEATEN- given MANY stripes!  The pain they had to feel had to be horrific. Yet, here they were, praying and singing praises unto God! Blood soak clothing, chains on their feet, nothing at all comfortable about their prison and they were praying and singing!

Prayer and song.  Just how incredibly important are prayer and song? The Bible is filled with BOTH. Prayer and song- daily occurrences. Paul and Silas were not praying and singing solely because of their situation. They habitually prayed and sang. To pray and sing in their dire circumstances was them proclaiming their faith loud and clear amid the worst of tribulations.

Personally, I can't imagine being whipped once, let alone many times. Sure, I received a whupping here and there as a child, but never from a fierce whip wielding enemy intent upon my suffering. Whipped repeatedly for their faith! Imprisoned for their faith! Singing praises! Praying to their God! If only I could sing and pray to God in my own personal tribulations which are a far cry from being whipped and imprisoned.

Paul and Silas were heard praying and singing by other prisoners, I can just imagine those prisoners thoughts. They sure weren't praying and singing themselves and yet here were two freshly whipped and incarcerated prisoners praying and singing, and not singing a mournful woe is me tune, but praises to God!

They PRAISED GOD in their agony, so why aren't we taught to praise God in our much lesser agonies? Can you imagine going through personal horrors and praising God? It's hard to do so, isn't it? We'd much rather cry and lash out, mourn and complain when we are given our tribulations. Our faith can't see beyond our dark and very troubled times. Is it any wonder that it's questionable that God will find any faith left on earth? Our faith is so darn fickle so it's really not very much like faith at all but something we pretend is faith.

We do, seriously, we have pretend faith and it comes and goes sometimes from day to day, hour to hour.

When will we get a faith that truly is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen? When will we be able to look beyond our individual tragedies that plague us all the time, I'm talking about the little tragedies too- the upsets that have us frustrated so very often.  Why can't we see past EVERY single life obstacle in our path towards Jesus? Why can't our HOPE be in Him even when we are sick and in pain, when mentally and emotionally we are being tortured? EITHER we truly believe EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING we face here is temporary to eternity, or we don't. 

I'm not saying things aren't going to cause us to cry or get angry- Jesus did both, the disciples cried and became angry, we are going to do these things. The biggest thing we have to always do is HOLD FAST to the FAITH that after the tears have been cried and the anger assuaged, or rather even while we are crying and fuming, we KNOW that Christ is our Savior and some unfathomable way things will work out for ETERNITY'S sake, not for our temporary time here and now. Our time here and now may be one bad thing after another, constantly. Our time here might be a constant state of insecurity in things that keep us clothed, fed, housed, and healthy. The only security we are promised is a heavenly treasure, not an earthly treasure of even the smallest kind.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 

1Pe 5:11  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.