In the midst...

When you are surrounded by troubles or circumstances, you tend to get so lost in them. You see what is around you. You look at how bad things are and they just seem to get worse. You ask God to take you out of this place your in. You wait on the Lord to hear your cry, though, it seems He is not inclined to remove you from your circumstance. As you survey your surroundings, you take note of how dreary it all seems. You examine for a way out and you just find brick walls all around you. Every now and then you catch a glimpse of light through the bars at the top of this jail cell you are in. But no sooner did you feel the warmth before it disappears once again. You are made to live off of hope and the belief of a better tomorrow. Your only food is the memories of the promises made to you so long ago. Your sustenance is your reference point that occurred so long ago. Your strength must come from somewhere other than on this world. What do you do? If you continue to examine your situation it just becomes more dreadful. The more you cry out, the more you want out of your situation. The longer you see the damp, dark walls, the less you can see why you may be in the place your in.

Joseph was in an actual prison, for something he did not do. He had no control over his circumstances. Imagine with me what would have become of him had he, curled up in a corner in self pity and pouted his days away. If he had sulked himself to sleep during the endless days and nights, would he have heard the baker and the cup bearers dreams? If he would have been so self absorbed, would he have been able to hear God giving him the translation to these dreams? Would Joseph have died in that prison, before he was able to fulfill what God had planned for his life? What would have happened to Joseph if he had been so distraught over his imprisonment that he was unable to help those around him? Who would God have used to save Egypt and the people from the 7 years of famine?!

Paul and Silos were also in a prison. Now, they had been beaten. I am sure they were in a lot of pain. Confused. They were doing the work of the Lord and now they were bleeding and in prison. What would have become of them had they cried out in despair, "poor me"?! They may have rotted and died in there. What would have become of these men? They were not distracted by their circumstances. They may have glanced around them, took note of how dreary things were, and then looked at each other and started to sing.

They realized along with Joseph that no matter what they did there was nothing they could do to change the situation they were in. They did all they could. As they praised God and waited on Him, things took place. If Joseph had been too distracted by how bad things were and kept his mind on that he may have missed his opportunity of escaping this trial. If Paul and Silos had not sent up their praise to the Lord but instead saw their pain and given up, they may have missed their way of escape. Another thing I gather from these two situations, they were not alone in the prison. I mean God was with them of course but in both situations they were accompanied by someone else with a need. So, not only were they in a situation that they had no control over but they were in there with another individual who had needs of their own. They had to look past the circumstances of their own trial to help the other person who was in the trial with them.

It is easy to look around you and see all the bad, but we must learn to look past that, and see the person or situation that we can help in the midst of our own battle. Our selfishness states to us how bad it is, our spirit reminds us that we all are fighting some sort of a battle, and we can help each other. The person in there with you may by your way of escaping your situation. Help them and they may help you without even knowing it themselves.