But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
High noon. What one would consider instinctively to be the brightest time of the day, with the sun shining in its strength. Just as the brightest time of the day is easily identified, so is its counterpart at night — when night is at its darkest. Midnight. Without a doubt, there are days when the weather may obscure the brightness of midday just as there will be nights that do not follow the usual pattern, but it does not alter the implication of brightness and darkness being represented by these two times of the day and night.
In our verse today, we see the apostle Paul and Silas at midnight and, if ever things looked dark for them, this would be the night. They had been beaten to within an inch of their life then thrown into the worst part of a prison in the city of Philippi. Their feet were even bound so that they were unable to move around at all. How could someone who loves God and is committed to serving Him find themselves in such a dark place? This really is midnight for Paul and Silas. It would be easy to pass judgement on them and suggest that this dungeon they are in is of their own making or if they were really following the Lord they would never end up here or God did not call them to do what they were doing.
It is important to note that, in the preceding verses we see the Spirit of God was indeed directing their path; forbidding them to preach in Asia and then not permitting them to go into Bithynia only to expressly guide Paul through a vision to go to Macedonia, where Philippi was located. Not only did they not miss God’s will, they were right where the Lord had wanted them to be. The Glory of God shines brightest through us when we are in our darkest hour. And so it was on that darkest of nights with Paul and Silas; instead of cursing the darkness, they let the light of Jesus shine through them. They were praying and praising God and being a witness to the other prisoners.
You may find yourself surrounded by darkness at times and it can seem overwhelming, like everything is closing in on you with no way out. But, just as the Lord was with Paul and Silas and had actually led them to this place, He always provides a way out. For these two prisoners, their midnight prayer and praise meeting resulted in a response from heaven: God sent an earthquake that loosed all of their bonds and opened the prison doors. Oh yes, God always provides a way out.
That does not always mean the way out will be deliverance from those dark nights, many times if not most of the time, it will be deliverance through the night, taking you beyond your midnight to the glorious victory He planned all along! No matter how dark the midnight, you always have within you a source of light that can never be bested by the darkness.
Whatever you go through in this life, you can be sure that, as a child of God, He knows where you are and He has not forsaken you. The answer is always the same when the darkness closes in and you just need to get past midnight: let the light of Jesus shine!
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