Apostolic Faith Daybreak Devotional
Daybreak: Acts 15:36 through 16:40
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Acts 1536 through 1640 Devotional focus verse And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed And sang praises unto God And the prisoners heard them Acts 1625 During the American Civil War As darkness descended the night Before the Battle of Stone's River A Union army band began to play softly The song "Home Sweet Home" After a time a Confederate band began to play along Soon another regimental band joined in And then another, till all the bands From both sides of the conflict were playing together The soldiers were quiet, likely pondering Whether they would ever see home again As the strains of home sweet home began to fade away Into the darkness The hearts of the soldiers were touched And they were reminded of the cause they were fighting for Home Music has wonderful power It can soothe a tiny baby to sleep It can encourage the downcast to give a shout for the battle It can comfort at the bedside of a dying child of God Music can calm the heart after a trying day at the office Or add a mellow backdrop to a candlelit meal It can humble us as we remember the tremendous price paid for freedom And stir us to worship as we consider the tremendous price paid for our spiritual deliverance While the benefits music can bring are undeniable It is not always easy to sing In times of trial, pain or crisis It might seem impossible to lift our voices in praise In today's text, Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown into prison No doubt they were suffering terrible pain from the bleeding wounds on their backs And the fact that their feet were secured in stocks Singing would not be the natural response in such circumstances Yet even though the two men did not know what the morrow would bring, they sang What made that possible? Perhaps our focus verse gives the answer Before they sang praises unto God, Paul and Silas prayed The Holy Spirit must have stirred their hearts as they communed with God Helping them to focus on Him and sing in the midst of the pain Sometimes we too must make a decision to sing or offer praise to God in spite of circumstances It may cost us something to do so, but it will be a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord We will find that to sing and praise in the midst of a trial will help lift the load Though it may be a heavy one And what a testimony our sacrifice of praise will be to those around us Like Paul and Silas, we will not only please the Lord, but we will impact those who listen to our song in a time of trial
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