"Glory In Tribulation" Series

One of my favorite TV shows years ago was Gomer Pyle, USMC. Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember it as well. Gomer was just a naive country boy from the hills of North Carolina and his drill Instructor in boot camp, Sergeant Carter, constantly yelled at him and put him through all kinds of tough times.

When others would say things like, "Gomer, Sergeant Carter is so mean to you! He's so unfair! Don't you hate him for the way he's treating you?!"

Gomer would reply, "Oh no, Sergeant Carter is the wisest man I know. He knows everything there is to know about being a marine. He's just doing this for my good.

You see." Gomer, had confidence in his sergeant so in the midst of countless pushups and midnight marathon runs in full gear-and even one time when Sgt Carter ordered Gomer to move a huge pile of sand from one place to another and then back again-in all this Gomer SAW something his peers missed.

He "saw" that His superior had his best interests in mind-that all this was for his good.

o Well, we must have the same kind of faith-filled confidence in our Superior

o if we are to sing in tough time

o we need that confidence that opens our eyes so that we can SEE His loving hand at work

o Even in times filled with heartache and pain.

Let me ask you-are you being treated unfairly this morning?

Does your life seem like a prison?

 Then, hear me-trust God-He will never leave us/forsake us.

 He is truly LORD of all-this includes school troubles or marital problems or work stress or sickness

 or even death itself, and if we are committed to furthering His purposes,

 He will work all things-even these "prison times of life" to our good.

So open the eyes of your heart and SING!

2. And then there's one other thing we can learn from this particular prison music.

When we sing in times like this the world NOTICES-and wants to learn to SING along.

 Verse 25 says that as Paul and Silas were singing, the other prisoners were listening.

 This was something new

 they'd never heard this kind of response to their situation before.

So, as the Greek here literally says, "They listened attentively."

Then when God miraculously responded by sending an earthquake that opened the doors and released the chains and locks around their stocks, well, they knew this had indeed been very SPECIAL singing.

So they didn't take advantage of the situation and run away.

the jailer thought they had all run away and was about to take his own life in desperation, Paul was able to say, "Don't harm yourself.

We are all here." Well that particular "lyric" made the jailer want to "sing along" as well and so he asked life's most profitable question, "What must I do to be saved?"

 In other words, he said, "Teach me to sing too! Tell me what I need to do to be like you?"

 Ironically he was no longer the captor but captive to what his prisoners had to offer.

 They were so serene and calm in the midst of tragedy that he knew he had to have what they had.