All of us struggle with issues of concern and doubt. We will all encounter disappointment and heartaches. All of us are held prisoner by the same fears and worries. Collectively, we are all suffering through a global pandemic. None of us could imagine what 2020 would bring when we rang in the new year. Our text if familiar. It is one of the most triumphant moments in the new testament. Paul and Silas had been beaten and imprisoned in the deepest part of the prison. Their circumstances were bleak. They were in the part of the prison where they took people to await their death. In the face of the beatings, and their gloomy outlook, Paul and Silu’s response was remarkably bright. Instead of mourning their situation, they began to pray and sing praises to the Lord. Those sounds of praise was a testimony that the external circumstances of life cannot destroy the relationship with God. It only took two men to change the atmosphere in that prison. Not only did they improve their situation, but the sound of their praise also enlighten the entire prison. There is a world around us that we do not even realize. Each of us has an unconscious ministry that takes place in everyday situations. Paul and Silus did not pray and praise to be heard. The did not do it so that the people around them would hear them, They prayed and praised for themselves, but their sound affected all around them. The sound that comes out of our mouth affects all that can hear. What kind of sound is coming from us? Somebody is listening for our response. People who know that we are a child of God will take note of how we respond to life. Some people are watching our response to this pandemic. Some are determining their future by what they see in us. We all suffer the same circumstances, but we will not all suffer the same fate. The world is looking for the sons of God to be revealed. What better time than now for a child of God to demonstrate the hope we have in Jesus? Some are in the same prison that we are, but they do not have the hope that we have. If we do not profess that hope, how will they ever get it? Somebody is listening. People are watching. What do they hear? What do they see? What is our testimony?
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