Today is my 45th birthday in the Lord!  What an incredible, utterly glorious day that was!!!

Acts 16: 26-28  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul
shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Yesterday we considered how Paul and Silas wound up in stocks in the inner jail after having been stripped, beaten and severely flogged during their brief ministry in Macedonia.  At a time like that, instead of complaining or bemoaning their fate, they were praying and singing hymns to God in the middle of the night – and the other prisoners were listening.

Then the violent earthquake struck – opening the doors and loosening everyone’s chains.  It appears that the prisoners could have escaped, but they didn’t.  The jailer woke up and seeing the doors open, was about to kill himself but Paul stopped him.  He must have been
stunned that they didn’t all try to escape.  What happened next tells me that the jailer had been listening to Paul and Silas as well.

“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (verses 29 & 30).  He
knew the importance of being saved and asked them what he must do to have it happen.  They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (verse 31)

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.  (verses 32-34)

This story is one of my favorites in the Bible and today I had an entirely new thought regarding it.  What if the earthquake was the given – that it was going to happen with all the prisoners escaping and the jailer killing himself?  Could everything that happened
to Paul and Silas be God’s answer to preserve the jailer’s life and bring about his salvation?  Who knows?  What we do know is that they glorified the Lord by how they handled themselves in a most difficult situation.  Instead of a night of defeat and tragedy – it was a night of triumph and joy!