Breaking the Midnight Chains

Morning--day--evening--night.

Sunrise--full sun--sunset--darkness.

The cycle of light and darkness is an amazing miracle created by God as described in Genesis 1:3-5(NIV):

 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.”

 And yet, darkness was the initial atmosphere of the earth. (Genesis 1:2)

As human beings, we gravitate towards the light. The light of day makes everything more predictable. Nothing seems to be hidden, and everything is out in the open.  Light reflects that life is present.

But eventually, the sun sets and darkness begins to invade.  Darkness is necessary for our biological welfare as many important physiological processes occur; some of which are even critical to our immune systems.

But many of us return to a mental prison once the colors of midnight intrude. The pain of our current circumstances, distresses, worries, and failures come to the forefront in the unraveling of the night. And sometimes, there really are things that go BUMP  in the night!

Perhaps this is you. Does the darkness bring a reminder of chains for you?

If this is all too familiar, I want to encourage you with scripture today!

Let’s look at Paul and a situation that occurred during his 2nd missionary journey in Acts 16, particularly in verses 16-40. Paul and Silas, along with Timothy, were going around speaking and strengthening churches throughout the region of Macedonia. They came upon a slave woman who had a spirit in her by which she predicted the future. Her owners were exploiting her for money. In short, Paul cast the spirit out of this slave woman and was brought before the magistrates of Philippi by her owners. The owners said that, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”(verse 20-21 NIV)

Some theologians consider these accusations by the slave owners to be more about the money that would be lost--than about Roman customs. Subsequently, Paul and Silas were then stripped down, flogged, thrown into the inner prison cell, and had their feet fastened into stocks. There seemed to be insufficient evidence that a crime had actually been committed. Incidentally, Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and should have been given a trial.

I imagine now that darkness had enveloped them in that inner cell. Physical chains were now present; and I wonder if emotional chains were present as well.

In those moments, Paul and Silas chose the weapons of prayer and praise to break the midnight chains. Verses 25-26(NIV) describe this supernatural

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 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.”

 To summarize the rest of this passage--because of Paul and Silas's weapons of choice, EVERYONE was freed from their chains. The jailer and his household ended up becoming believers and were baptized. The morning brought news that the magistrates had released them.  Paul even insisted that the magistrates themselves come and escort them out of the prison, because of their Roman citizenship.

There are three truths that I want to see your minds inoculated with when it comes to the healing process of breaking the midnight chains:

1.      No matter how unfair the circumstance, no matter how beaten up you are, or how many times you may have failed--choose your weapons carefully! Paul and Silas chose prayer and praise as their weapons; they understood how their choice would impact others. God inhabits the praises of His people as Psalm 22:3 depicts, and Isaiah 61:3 describes trading a spirit of despair for a garment of praise. James 5:16b(NIV) says that “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

2.      Choosing prayer and praise as your weapons brings breakthroughs! Chains break and prison doors fly open when breakthrough happens. Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 10:4(NIV), “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”  He is the God of BREAKTHROUGH!

3.      After the breakthrough, comes the dawn! A new day begins. Darkness is overcome because of the morning light. In Psalm 143:8(NIV), David prays “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”  Similarly, Lamentations 3:22-23(NIV) states, “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” The Lord is faithful to move us on to a greater dawn after the breakthrough!

The midnight chains are inevitable. The cycle of light and darkness has to occur. Sometimes, the “darkness” lasts days, weeks, months, and even years. But lift your voice in prayer and praise to the King of kings--and be AMAZED at what He can accomplish through the breaking of midnight chains!

I’m praying and singing with you!