While reading Acts 16:25, "Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening," I realized something. Paul and Silas were in prison, not church, not a party, not a joyous event, yet they were praising and worshipping God.
When I think of prison, happiness is not a word that comes to mind. I can't imagine Paul and Silas were happy to be in their circumstances. They, I am positive, would have rather been free to go about preaching and teaching as planned.
God uses sad or less than happy circumstances to test our faith. He wants us to "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus," 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT. He wants non-believers to see the joy we find even when things seem tough.
If we are in a circumstance that seems or is bad, God can and will use it to draw us closer and make things better on the other side. If we trust God, let Him do what He does. He will show His glory in the circumstances and use them to further His Kingdom. You never know the lives you will touch by showing joy in the LORD in your sad circumstances.
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