Unsung Heroes: Commitment of Silas — Tuesday
1 Peter 3:13-16
Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. (NLT)
“No good deed goes unpunished.” Sayings like these drive me bananas because they lay dormant in my mind until the worst possible time. This particular saying will suddenly come to the forefront of my mind when things are going downhill, as if it’s some sort of “answer” for why everything seems to be going poorly.
It’s doubly frustrating because one of the biggest questions I get asked by my now 11th-grade boys’ group revolves around the idea of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” In processing through this with them recently, I’ve been reminded of the fact that no matter how well-articulated of an answer I come up with, it’s just an incredibly difficult question to wrestle with, and an even harder reality to live. And trying to keep your faith in the midst of seemingly undeserved suffering can feel impossible.
Fortunately, Paul and Silas give us one of the most amazing examples in Scripture of how it’s done. Let’s recap the context: In the story told in Acts 16, Paul and Silas are reportedly annoyed to the point that Paul casts out a demon residing in a slave girl because it wouldn’t leave them alone. (Sidebar: I’ve sometimes wondered if the person annoying me was indeed some spawn of Satan, but Paul actually knows that’s the case in his situation and [in my mind] dismantles this demon mid-stride on his way to pray… talk about a bad dude! Anyway, onto the point…)
Because Paul and Silas did the good deed of helping this slave girl, they’re beaten and thrown into the most secure part of the prison under the accusation that they essentially “disturbed the super awesome Roman peace that we’ve always loved.” (Spoiler alert: The locals definitely didn’t love the Roman law.) This just adds to the laundry list of beatings bestowed on Paul’s body, and Silas is getting in on the action now, too.
But neither relent on their mission. Talk about resilience and dedication. No sour attitudes, no diminished belief—just on to the next thing, which we will expand on a bit tomorrow from a new perspective.
Tuesday’s Reflection
Pray today that the Lord starts to grow resilience in you like Paul and Silas had, and that the mission and work God has for you is clear so that it can become as much of a priority for you as it was for them.
