Day 2: Immeasurably more
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:27-28).
Our Father, How great You are—beyond our understanding! (Job 36:26). Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33 – NKJV).
You, Lord, are a God of miracles, and in Your unsearchable power, might, and mercy, You do miracles within miracles. You are a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
Paul and Silas experienced Your immeasurably more as they prayed and sang to You at the midnight hour from the cell of their Philippian jail—as other prisoners listened (Acts 16:25). You answered with a deliverance that was to shake the foundations of the prison, and loosen their feet from the stocks:
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose (Acts 16:26).
The jailer on seeing the open prison doors, prepared to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. We gain some insight into his actions from the earlier account of the Apostle Peter's escape from prison:
In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed (Acts 12:18-19).
No doubt fearing the same fate, the Philippian jailer was about to choose the desperate alternative of taking his own life. But Your miracle was far from over. You were putting into place the next part of Your plan—to shake the foundations of spiritual prisons and break bonds in the heavenlies.
As the apostle Paul quickly intervened, shouting, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:28), the grateful and relieved jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas (Acts 16:29).
Stunned by his unexpected deliverance and stirred by the apostles' witness, the overwhelmed jailer asked the way to salvation, "What must I do to be saved?" and received the answer that brought freedom and joy to him and to countless others through the ages: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:30-31).
O Mighty God of mercy and miracles, who but You could turn desperation to joy, bondage to freedom, darkness to light, a lost household to a family of believers? Thank You for meeting us in our despair, when all seems desolate and hopeless. Thank You that You bring Your light to us and to our household. Thank You that You do immeasurably more that we can ask or imagine.
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