JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.
Families Abiding in Jesus together
With shorter reading assignments and kid-specific focus areas, Join The Journey Jr. is designed to help parents disciple their kids and engage with Scripture in the best ways for their age.
This month's memory verse
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
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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.
25Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
29The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
35The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!” 36So the jailer told Paul, “The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.”
37But Paul replied, “They have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison—and we are Roman citizens. So now they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves to release us!”
38When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39So they came to the jail and apologized to them. Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city. 40When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town.
When you’re faced with a difficult situation, what’s your initial reaction or attitude? For example, what do you do when a group of friends leaves you out? Or how do you respond when you are struggling with a subject at school or reading? What about when you move to a new school or class—what do you think and feel? These are just a few examples of hard situations where we have to choose how we’ll respond. Will we trust God, or will we respond in frustration, anger, or sadness?
Paul and Silas were faced with a similar situation. They had freed a young girl who had an evil spirit, and her masters were angry and had Paul and Silas thrown in prison. The prison wouldn’t have been very nice. They would’ve been chained by their hands and ankles, gotten little food or water, and it would’ve been very dark. In a situation like that, they definitely could have been discouraged, angry, or even scared. But they chose a different reaction.
Read Acts 16:25-26. What did Paul and Silas do?
They praised God! They sang songs to him, praising him for who he is and what he has done! Instead of complaining, being angry, or even scared, they trusted that God would help them. And he did! God sends an earthquake that opens the doors and breaks their chains, showing he is all-powerful.
Paul and Silas get the opportunity to then share the gospel with the jailer who was guarding them. God used Paul and Silas’s bad situation to create an opportunity for the jailer to hear about Jesus—and not only does he hear, but he believes along with his whole family!
Paul and Silas’s story ends with being released from prison and being allowed to continue doing their ministry. But they didn’t know the outcome would be good—yet, they praised God anyway.
Is there a hard thing you’re dealing with right now? Maybe it’s one of the things we talked about earlier, or something else entirely. When you think about it, what’s your gut reaction? Are you tempted to be angry, sad, or scared?
Paul and Silas show us a different way. They didn’t wait for their circumstances to change before they trusted God—they praised him right in the middle of the pain and the dark. That’s the choice in front of us too: we can trust God before we see how things turn out.
While coloring the story of Paul and Silas in prison, think of one specific way you can praise God this week, even in the middle of your hard thing. It might be thanking him for something true about who he is (he’s powerful, he’s good, he’s with you), or thanking him for something he’s already done for you.
You can learn more about this story by watching the Superbook Paul and Silas video.