Praise for Prisons

Acts 12 records Peter's miraculous escape from prison. It's such an awesome story. I love that Peter doesn't even realize what is happening until it is all over. I love the excitement that ensues as the church realizes their prayers have been answered and Peter is free and safe.

I know what it feels like to be freed from a prison. Not a physical prison, but a prison of shame and guilt. A prison of past mistakes and ungodly choices. I know how the praise flowed when God freed me from my prison. I, like Peter, did not recognize what God was doing until it was all over.

But then I thought about Paul. He, too, experienced the jubilation of open prison doors, the miraculous freeing from chains. But I know that he also experienced prison and was not miraculously freed. And it was during this time that God used him to write some of the most meaningful letters of his life, letters that encourage and inspire to this day. Paul was content in either circumstance(Philippians 4:11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength).

Here is what I must ask myself. Do I only praise God when He opens the prison doors and frees me? Or have I learned to praise Him even when He leaves me in prison? Do I trust Him in either place? It's easy to praise Him when the doors are opened and prayers are answered the way I want. But I want to learn contentment in all circumstances, prison doors open or prison doors closed, knowing that God is in both and accomplishing His purposes, and I might never know what He was doing.