9-20-17 A Powerful Testimony to a Watching World


Daily Devotion: A Powerful Testimony to a Watching World - By Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
"But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." -Acts 16:25
I think the worst thing that ever happened in history, the greatest travesty, the greatest injustice, was when Jesus Christ Himself was crucified. What could have been worse than that? What could have been worse than for God the Father to look down from Heaven and see His Son who He loved with all His heart suffering and dying for the sins of the world? How could God allow that? It was so awful.
Yet the Bible says, "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him" (Isaiah 53:10). Does this mean God was pleased in watching His Son suffer? Absolutely not. But God the Father was pleased in knowing this suffering would produce something wonderful called salvation for you and for me. As awful as it was, it accomplished God's purpose. Out of the greatest bad came the greatest good. That is how God showed His love for us. As John tells us, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
In the same way, when hardship comes and you are still praising the Lord, that blows the mind of the nonbeliever. Remember the story of Paul and Silas when they were thrown into prison for preaching the gospel? We read in Acts that "at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them" (16:25).
Maybe you are going through a hard time right now. Maybe you're asking, "Why, God?"
God has a purpose. He has allowed it. God has either done it or He has allowed it. Deal with it the best that you can and seek to bring Him glory. That is a powerful testimony to a world that doesn't know God. 

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