June 2003

Suddenly!

‘About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly…’ (Acts 16:25-26)

God’s ‘suddenlies’ are always dramatic. Paul and Silas were going nowhere but doing the right thing – they were praying and worshipping. In fact, they were in a really bleak position having been thrown into prison and put into stocks after being stripped and severely beaten. Their short-term prospects were distinctly unpromising and, humanly speaking, the chances of a dramatic turnaround in their circumstances must have seemed non-existent. Nevertheless, they were ‘praying and singing hymns’.

In that context, the word ‘suddenly’ is just so exciting – think about it: one moment, a hopeless situation but the next moment that situation is completely overtaken by events. In fact, God has taken over and is now controlling those events in the most dramatic fashion, combining a violent earthquake, the prisoners miraculously released but unharmed, the jailer and his whole family marvellously converted. Only God could have conceived the plan and pulled it off.

I know that every one of us can relate to periods when it has seemed like we are making little to no headway (whether personally or collectively as the church) but surely the lesson from Acts 16 is that prayer and worship is entirely valid in such times.

I would also want to add gratitude to God for all his ongoing mercy, faithfulness and kindness already experienced as being one of the vital ingredients at such times. We need to keep the sense of anticipation and excitement about what could happen in the most unlikely circumstances and at the most unexpected time (humanly speaking) as we continue to pray and worship.

There is another example of one of God's suddenlies in the account relating to the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2), and it is exactly the kind of suddenly I have in mind.

Let me finish with this thought – God’s suddenlies are always surprising and I have no doubt that when God next does a new thing it will be the same. Our job, it seems to me, is to remain expectant, in anticipation, open and excited about the prospect in the knowledge that after it has happened, the record will begin with the word, ‘suddenly’!

Jeremy Jennings

This article is an edited version of one first published in Focus, June 2003. Reproduced here with permission.