When I Agree with God

And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. (Acts 16: 23 - 26)

How does one shackled so uncomfortably find the energy and encouragement to sing praises to God? What kinds of songs were they singing? And what kinds of prayers were they offering? How does one still minister after the kind of beatings they had received? How does one not even mention his rights until they are being released (v 37) yet it could have saved them from the pain and ignominy they went through?

They were simply agreed with God’s call for their lives. They did not have any problems with the lot their calling attracted. They were ready to go all the way to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. And I know people are squirming when they see the word purpose in relation to unfair treatment and pain.

And the results bail them out conclusively. We have prisoners getting saved, the jailor and his family getting saved to the point that he requests they be baptized late into the night, and I am sure even some magistrates may have responded to the Gospel Paul preached.

And they are not alone in this.

Remember Peter in prison? James has just been killed by Herod. Peter was going to be next. It was the last night for him to be alive going by what was happening.

How could he sleep? Where did he get sleep from? Why was he not praying for deliverance?

Same thing; he was content with what God was doing in his life. The fact that even the intercessors did not believe it when he was released tells us that his was a closed case.

Yet he was asleep when an angel came to release him. He was at peace with what God was doing in his life. He could sleep because dying for Christ was a comforting thought. He was completely sold out to God’s call in his life that he was confident that whatever was happening was consistent with God’s perfect will. In short he was agreed with God concerning His will in his life.

Look at the prayer meeting in Acts 4. Why are they celebrating persecution? Why are they not praying for a breakthrough from that persecution? Why are they not looking for hamlets to hide to avoid it? And why are they not sending delegations to negotiate for a reprieve from all that pain?

Why should they celebrate instead of lamenting? And why should they pray for strength to endure and boldness to even get beyond it?

Again they have agreed with God concerning their lives. They are agreed with Him concerning the cost they may be required to pay for their witness to bear fruit. If a beating is what it will cost to share Christ with a single person, they are ready to be beaten. If the jail can become a forum for that witness, then they will joyfully endure it.

This explains the reason Paul could write all those letters from prison, yet we do not see any complaint underlying the messages. That was how he was able to bear fruit even in Caesar’s household (Philippians 4: 22).

We see the same with Joseph. The reason he was able to excel as a slave and prisoner is because he had no issues with what God was about in his life. He was simply surrendered (and not a hopeless surrender) to what God was about his life. That explains why he wonders why his brothers are pleading for forgiveness for something he had forgotten. You see, bitterness is a product of a life of one in charge of their destiny. Then someone can subvert that destiny. That is the reason we fight for our rights.

Once I agree with God, I will be at peace with whatever He throws my way, however painful it may be. But even more important is the fact that I will pursue the knowledge of whatever He expects of me so that I do it.

One time a robber knocked me and left me dead because I knew him. I say that because when I woke two hours later I did not know where I was. Even the nurses were exclaiming openly that I was supposed to be dead. An X-ray showed that my skull had been dented. My full memory slowly came back a few months later. And the guy almost fainted when he saw me alive.

Then God spoke. He told me that he was in charge even then and that I should allow Him to continue managing (being Lord of) my life. He was able to deal with my bitterness when I surrendered to Him that I was able to lead my ‘killer’ to Christ. I couldn’t have done so if I was in charge of my life as most people are.

God’s will could lead to you to being sacked unfairly. It might require of you to be unjustly charged, even condemned for something everybody knows you never did.

What am I saying? Knowing God’s will and agreeing with it will give me peace in impossible situations. Paul and Silas could ride above that discomfort because they knew they were in God’s will. Peter could sleep peacefully when it was apparent that it was his last night alive because he knew he was where God wanted him to be. And the disciples could pray for boldness instead of deliverance because they knew that that is what God required of them as witnesses.

I am not saying that we look for discomfort or punishment. I am insisting that we seek to know God’s will concerning us with greater clarity so that we will be clear about where God is placing us.

And the first place we need to go to is His word, the Bible. It is the one that will give us what God is like and what He expects of us. It is also the filter through which we take any guidance and any voice we hear to know whether it is of God.

God’s will is simply hidden in His word. It is impossible to know that will if you are not sold out to His word.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2)

That word will outlast heaven and earth. That word MUST be fulfilled according to Christ’s teaching. That word is established in heaven and so can never be shaken anywhere. It offers the greatest security in this world and the next.

That is why we cannot separate God’s will from His word. And it was that word that gave assurance when everything else was speaking otherwise. Remember Paul’s call?

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. (Acts 9:15, 16)

But we run away from that word and seek words that promise everything but hardship. We even choose pastors and preachers who will tell us what will excite us. We always want to know the great things God will do for us as opposed to our responsibility to walk in His revelation, a revelation that may call on us to endure suffering for the God we serve.

Incidentally the word was the same reason Joseph could endure all that hardship, even mistreatment and betrayal. He knew God’s promise to Abraham and what it entailed, mistreatment and slavery. He therefore was not afraid of being the first fruit of that season. And it is very difficult to be bitter when you are surrendered to God’s will and revelation.

Is what you are going through consistent with God’s call for your life? Do you know what your call entails? Does your spiritual leader help you identify with God’s calling for your life? Do you help other believers identify with God’s call on their lives?

Are the breakthroughs you are pursuing consistent with what God has purposed concerning your life? Are you walking in your revelation? Do you know what God wants you to be doing?

Let me close with this verse.

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)