“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to 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 everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” (Acts 16:25-34)

Definitely not the first jail rescue performed by the Holy Spirit, but a very interesting one, to say the least. Paul and Silas were in prison in Philippi after removing an evil spirit from a slave girl. They were beaten and thrown in prison; jailed in stocks. And then the two men prayed and sang hymns. Talk about an attitude of obedience!

The Holy Spirit breaks them out with an earthquake, but then a curious thing happens. Before the guys get out of the jail, they see the guard prepare to kill himself over his “failure”. Instead of running (the seemingly wise choice), they stayed provided a physical and spiritual rescue for the jailer. He then leads them to his house where his whole family gets saved.

Think about a situation you were in that you couldn’t wait to get out of. And then you had your chance to get out. Would you have stayed in for the benefit of the one who was holding you there? Paul and Silas nearly sacrificed themselves for the salvation of this man and his family. Talk about confidence in God! Paul was so confident in God’s plan that he didn’t think for one minute about himself or his safety, but about bringing peace to the enemy.

Would you be willing to risk your freedom (or your life) for someone who could be considered an enemy? That should be a difficult question to answer. But Paul showed us the way – not by our might, not by our power, but by His Spirit. Trusting in Christ is our only way to live with that kind of confidence in God and His plan.