Centuries ago, Portugal adopted a national motto. The motto read: “No More Beyond.” It was an appropriate statement since Portugal, at the time, was the end of the world. But later some adventurous persons sailed beyond Portugal and discovered a whole new world. So the question arose: “What do we do with our national motto?” After much debate, one person simply scratched out a word, and the new motto became: “More Beyond.”
Whenever life tumbles in upon us, it is easy to have a “No more beyond” attitude. While facing what appear to be insurmountable challenges, we say to ourselves, “Certainly there is no life beyond this one.” Before long, we convince ourselves that there is no more light beyond our darkness. Then the mental bars of defeat and discouragement appear, and we begin to lock ourselves up in our self-made prisons.
I am sure Paul and Silas were tempted to wallow in this attitude when they were locked up in a dark, dingy prison cell, facing the grim reality that they might not see another tomorrow. But Paul and Silas reflected a spirit far beyond their circumstance. The hymns they sang while shackled in chains testified to their inner assurance that God was bigger than the challenge they faced. As they winked at their adversity, God shook the foundations of the prison, tore apart their shackles, and flung wide the prison doors. They were free!
Use your spiritual imagination and see Paul and Silas running from their destroyed prison into our twenty-first-century lives. They appear lifting high torches of light and shouting, “Whatever challenge you face, it is not the end! There is something more beyond it! We have experienced it. For we know a God who is greater than pain, greater than tragedy, and greater than death. We know a God who frees those who are in bondage. Come to know this God and you too will find more beyond whatever challenges you encounter!”
As you continue to imagine the powerful witness of Paul and Silas, my hope is that your spirit will be saturated with undaunted courage, and your once-defeated life will, through faith, come to embody the attitude and spirit of a determined disciple of Jesus Christ. To encourage you, I want to highlight certain truths which appear in this magnificent passage of scripture. As you begin to understand these truths, you will be better equipped to live a victorious life. Let’s take a look.
There Will Be Opposition
Contrary to popular opinion and certain television preachers, Christians are not immune from pain and disappointment. The notion of a cotton-candy theology that promises all health and wealth and no turmoil or tribulation is melting away with every tragedy that befalls our world. The reality of this sobering truth hit home in a cartoon that appeared in The Atlanta Constitution after a man named Mark Barton walked into an Atlanta business office and shot and killed several people. In the cartoon, a small boy is sitting next to his mother, and a newspaper is lying on the table. The head- line reads, “Atlanta Murderer: Mark Barton.” Confused, the boy is looking up at his mother saying, “You said monsters don’t exist.”[1] Unfortunately, there are Christians who are like that little boy in the cartoon. When the monsters of life appear and begin to pounce on them, they do not understand why. The evil and pain they experience confuses their distorted view of Christianity. Eventually, they blame their suffering on lack of faith. Some may even give up all together on God. As a result, they become spiritually bankrupt and are left with no inner resources with which to battle the trials of life.
Scripture does not teach that Christians will escape the tragedies and turmoil of life. In fact, scripture teaches that opposition is inevitable. For example, we read that before Paul and Silas were thrown into jail, they were stripped of their clothing and beaten with rods (v. 22). Sounds awful, doesn’t it? Yet when we read the New Testament, we notice that such treatment was routine. Paul confirms this in 2 Corinthians when he gives a litany of trials and tribulations that he and others of the faith had to endure. Take a look at the list: “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5). After reading this litany you must conclude that if Paul were alive today he would be nauseated by those who tout a prosperity gospel.
Paul knew that he would face opposition. However, what is important to remember is that he did not cower from this fact. His resolve remained strong. In fact, later in the aforementioned pas- sage Paul’s rhetoric is on the offensive:
We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as un- known, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. — 2 Corinthians 6:8-10
For Paul, it was unimportant how badly Christians were treated, for he believed they were empowered by a towering faith that enabled them to endure and rise victoriously above any opposition.
We Do Not Face Opposition Alone
In the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, there are many stories about the Native Americans. I like the one about the ritual of initiation for Cherokee boys entering manhood. Near age eleven, the young Indian travels deep into the Pisgah forest, armed only with a bow and arrow. This ritual is intended to prove his bravery, yet the entire night he is terrified. Every hoot of an owl sounds like a menacing monster. Every cracking twig sounds like a bear or bobcat. Every rush of wind sounds like whispers of the demonic. But when morning finally comes, the young brave sees another Cherokee hiding behind a tree. It is his father, who has been lovingly watching all night long, making certain that his child did not have to face the darkness alone.[2]
This story reflects a powerful truth that should anchor us when we face opposition. This truth certainly anchored Paul. As he sat in that dark prison cell with Silas, I am confident he was comforted by the promise which he wrote about in his letter to his friends in Rome: “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38- 39). This is the promise which gave Paul the capability to survive and overcome opposition. He knew that he had a source of strength that could sustain and empower him. As he faced the dark hours of persecution, he was certain that God was with him, giving him the courage to face the ugliest of terrors. He had the confidence that the same power which was with him in darkness would lead him into the light. Paul was absolutely persuaded that with God there was nothing strong enough, evil enough, or powerful enough that could defeat him, not even death. And so it is with us. When the storms of life rage and roar, God is near, caring and encouraging, making sure we do not face the darkness alone. But most importantly, God gives us the gift of light which pierces our darkness and liberates us to bloom again.
As I reflect on the witness of Paul and Silas, one of the images that keeps coming into my mind is one of violets cracking rocks. Have you ever seen it? It is inspiring. You hike up a mountain or walk down a sidewalk and find a huge rock with beautiful violets growing right through it! Incredible! Tiny, yet determined, violets with so much desire for sunlight that they literally crack the rock so they can bask in the sunlight and finally bloom victoriously.[3] I believe Paul and Silas were given the same type of strength to break out of jail. The hymns of faith and praise that they sang penetrated the walls of their cell. Even other prisoners heard the healing notes that were exploding with the power of the gospel. No cold, hard, rock-like prison could squelch the joyful notes of two men who were confident that they were in the hands of Almighty God. Their songs of faith burst forth in glory, and the foundation of the prison shook.
As Christians, we are like the violets that have the power to crack the rocks of opposition. We have the power to crack rocks of suffering. We have the power to crack rocks of tragedy. We have the power to crack rocks of doom and death. And that power is the Spirit of Almighty God revealed in Jesus Christ!
Opposition Can Be Turned Into Opportunity
The biblical scholar William Barclay wrote, “Endurance is not just bearing rough times, but turning rough times into glory!” I believe this was what Paul was declaring when he wrote, “We are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). Not only can we overcome the tragedies of life, but with the help of God, we can turn trouble into triumph! In Romans 8, Paul declared it another way: “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” When we put these inspired thoughts of Paul together, we should become aware that evil and tragedy are never the will of God, but God majors in taking the evil that en- snares us and turning it into good. Over and over again in scripture and history we see this. Over and over again in life we see this. When evil attacks with pain, God uses it to build character. When evil shows resistance, God uses it to build strength. When evil cripples with tragedy, God finds a way to victory. When evil destroys with death, God restores life. When the momentum of evil rolls our way, God takes that momentum, transforms it, and rolls it back into evil’s way.
Wendell Wilkie was right when he said, “What a person needs to get ahead is a powerful enemy.” The Chinese language affirms a similar principle. The word “crisis” in Chinese has two characters: one represents “danger” and the other “opportunity.”[4] When we are faced with opposition, the same truth applies. God can take the worst evil and transform it into an opportunity for victorious change. A friend of mine experienced such a change. She lives in New York City and was in Times Square on the morning of September 11, 2001, when terrorists turned the World Trade Center into rubble. A few days after the attack, still dazed and upset, she got on the subway for the first time since the attack. It was packed, and not a word was spoken. She looked around for a place to hold on as the train moved, but all the poles and seats were covered with hands. There must have been a sense of deep disappointment on her face because a huge, muscular, African-American man looked down at her, stuck out his bulging arm, and said, “Hold on to me. We have got to hold on to each other.” As she wrapped her small hands around his rock solid arm, she tried to remember when she had felt some- thing so strong and so secure. Soon tears began to run down her cheek. Seeing her tears, the man decided to hold her until she got off the train.[5]
Healing events like this have occurred all over New York in the wake of the terrorist attacks: strangers hugging strangers, black people hugging white people, Hispanic people hugging Asian people. Hate and prejudice have given way to love and compassion. What was once considered a tough city, where you never talked to a stranger, let alone embraced one, is now a city known for its unity, compassion, love, and faith! You see, God takes opposition and creates an overwhelming opportunity!
Jesus’ work on the cross is the ultimate example of opposition being transformed into opportunity. Before Jesus, the cross represented suffering, shame, punishment, and death. But he came and transformed it into the symbol of forgiveness, victory, love, and life! So whenever we gaze upon the cross, we are reinforced by the reality that God in Christ takes what is ugly and makes it beautiful. The great preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick once told a true story about the transforming love of Jesus Christ. A young woman lived in war-torn Armenia in the early 1900s. A Turkish soldier chased her and her brother down a dead-end alley. The soldier killed her brother, but she escaped. Later she was captured and put to work in a military hospital as a nurse.
One day the man who had murdered her brother was a patient in the hospital and assigned to her ward. When she recognized him, she was horrified. But he had been critically wounded and she knew that the slightest neglect would cause his death. Suddenly, a very different battle waged within her. One side of her wanted vengeance. She thought, “Here’s my chance. No one will ever know.” But Christ’s Spirit reigned victorious inside her. She nursed him back to health and prayed for him daily.
When the soldier fully recovered, he asked the nurse in amazement, “Why? You recognized me. Why did you care for me so faithfully?” She replied, “Because I serve him who said, ‘Love your enemies and do them good.’ That is my faith.” The soldier was silent as he reflected on such foreign words. Then he replied, “Tell me more of your religion. Tell me more of your Lord. I would give anything to have a faith like yours!”[6]
Isn’t that what happened in that infamous jail so many years ago? Paul and Silas were faced with opposition and, yet, with God’s help were able to seize an opportunity. They transformed their cell into a sanctuary, and their jailer came to the altar. They did not fight evil with evil but overcame evil with good.
Paul and Silas had a choice, and now we have a choice. We can stay locked up in our own prison, or we can seize the opportunity that God has created out of opposition. Let us pray that God will help each of us look opposition in the face and say with unwavering courage:
I will be untouched in the midst of fire
I will stand firm in the midst of a storm
I will not crack in the midst of chaos
I will not lose heart when the world is torn
I will not fear when heat blazes
I will not fret when drought comes
I will bear fruit in the midst of all of it
I will march to a different drum
I will discover victory in tragedy
I will trust in El Shaddai
I will laugh in the face of death
I will wave evil and pain good-bye[7]
1. Cartoon by Mike Luckovich of The Atlanta Constitution. The cartoon appeared in newspapers in August of 1999.
2. Abingdon Preacher’s Annual 1994, ed. by John K. Bergland (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993), p. 31.
3. I am grateful to Maxie Dunnam for giving me this image of the violet.
4. Attributed to John F. Kennedy.
5. True story shared with me by the very woman who was embraced by this stranger: Lindsey Alley.
6. James W. Moore, Yes, Lord, I Have Sinned But I Have Several Excellent Excuses (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991), pp. 26-27.
7. Poem by Charles D. Reeb.