“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25
Few things preach more loudly than a supernatural response to suffering. Especially undeserved suffering. The fellow inmates of Paul and Silas began listening to them when they responded supernaturally. Eugene Petersen translates this verse in “The Message” beautifully, “Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn't believe their ears.” Prisoners don’t sing praises to God at midnight unless there is something different about them. Something supernaturally different. Jonathan Edwards put it so well, “True virtue never appears so lovely as when it is most oppressed; and the divine excellency of real Christianity is never exhibited with such advantage as when under the greatest trials.”
I well remember an incident from the early 1980’s while I was a college pastor in College Station, Texas. Incoming freshman Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the corps of cadets at Texas A & M University. One early morning, he was forced to run until he dropped. Tragically, he never got up. Bruce Goodrich died at the very beginning of his first semester at A&M. The school, of course, prepared for the lawsuit which certainly the parents would bring against it. Unexpectedly, the lawsuit never came. But the following letter was sent by Bruce’s father to the administration, faculty, student body, and the corps of cadets. It was published in the school newspaper - "The Battalion"; and the city paper - "The Eagle."
“I would like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation of my family for the great outpouring of concern and sympathy from Texas A & M University and the college community over the loss of our son Bruce. We were deeply touched by the tribute paid to him in The Battalion. We were particularly pleased to note that his Christian witness did not go unnoticed during his brief time on campus.
I hope it will be some comfort to know that we harbor no ill will in the matter. We know our God makes no mistakes. Bruce had an appointment with his Lord and is now secure in his celestial home. When the question is asked, ‘Why did this happen?’ perhaps one answer will be, ‘So that many will consider where they will spend eternity.’”
Amazing! That letter rocked the A&M community and beyond. It preached more loudly than a thousand sermons ever could. Not that the thousand sermons don’t have their place. But the best of sermons can still be quickly swept aside. Supernatural responses such as Mr. Goodrich’s and his family make it more difficult to brush off the reality of a life-transforming God. Far, far more difficult.
Flashpoint: It is against the black backdrop of undeserved suffering that resurrection power is given its best opportunity to show what God can do through mortal man.