BREAKTHROUGH AT MIDNIGHT
(10-minute read)
THERE IS A SILENT COUNTDOWN happening in our lives every night. These are the moments before midnight that usually slip out quietly to make way for a new day to arrive. It is a change of order that we are more aware of, especially on the eve of a birthday and New Year’s Day. We want to capture those moments with significant others as we cross over to a new chapter; although chronologically speaking, it is just another hour.
Then there are times in our lives when it can feel like we are on a long countdown before midnight, particularly when a difficult season has remained unchanged for too long. We labour silently through each day and by midnight, we feel relieved that we have made it through another day. The cycle continues. We tolerate living with the hope that it will pay off eventually.
But if we look at midnight differently, we will live differently. Instead of looking at each midnight as the survival of misery, we can re-imagine it as the cusp of a new day, of hope and of destiny that God wants to take us into.
Acts 16 narrates a powerful account of events that happened at midnight. Paul and Silas had come under mob attack, after setting free a slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit that enabled her to make money out of fortune telling. Her owners were livid once she lost her money-making abilities and incited the crowds and the magistrate to throw Paul and Silas in jail. After being mercilessly flogged, they were severely restrained in spite of their injuries. Think about that! Yet, we read in verse 25 that “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Wounded and in pain, what kind of songs did they sing? Were they blues with themes of oppression and pain?
We are reminded in Psalm 150:6 (the final verse in the final chapter of the book of Psalm), “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Breathing is a sign of being alive. We breathe even when we are unconscious, depressed, demented, disabled, suffer disorder, alone, unemployed, hurting, and the list goes on. For Paul and Silas, though their bodies were wounded, their ministry suffered a setback, they were wrongly accused, mistreated and suffered grave injury, they still had breath. And they praised the Lord. They lifted their voices because of the higher power that is alive within them - the Holy Spirit.
What happened next was simply phenomenal: “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 chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” (Acts 16:26-28 NASB).
What an incredible story. From being beaten to being nursed and later served a home-cooked meal all within the same night. It was anything but just another night for Paul and Silas. Indeed, we have a God who is with us to cross over (not hibernate through) midnight with us. We are never alone. Therefore, we can be certain of three things:
MIDNIGHT IS ABOUT A NEW DAY
What song are you singing in your midnight? To those who have closed the day without the news they had hoped for and they feel forgotten by God, Psalm 30:5 offers us these words of solace, “For His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” This is not about positive thinking. It is about God who is with us when we are crying our eyes out alone at night. Scripture assures us that there will be happier days ahead but only if we trust God.
Psalm 119:61-62 reflects what Paul and Silas were determined to do: “Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget Your law. At midnight, I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous laws.”
Some people act as though their yesterdays are disposable and they can’t wait for midnight to come around for the drudgery and regrets of today to become the past of yesterday. They can’t wait to leave yesterday behind! Yet some of us can’t wait for the new day to roll in so we can improve our conversations with God and with the people in our lives. They see yesterday as indispensable for the new day ahead!
The difference lies in being confident that God goes through our midnight with us.
MIDNIGHT IS ABOUT HOPE
Where was God when Paul and Silas were at the receiving end of heavy blows and beatings? Why didn’t He show up and intervene? Isn’t this what a good God would do? But to the benefit of all believers, they did not resort to such humanistic line of reasoning. As their midnight approached, they did not change their minds about who Jesus was. They likely sensed in their spirit that Jesus, the living Hope, had showed up at midnight and they began to sing.
What were they singing? They were likely declaring who Jesus was to them although they were chained like animals in a place with such a strong stench of urine that even guards kept their distance.
Paul later wrote this teaching in Romans 5:3-5 [NLT], “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
Scripture revealed that “the other prisoners were listening to them”. Evidently, Paul and Silas were not the only ones going through their midnight. The other prisoners, too, were going through their own midnight experience.
Midnight, often a non-social time when we feel extremely isolated, always involves others. There are conversations to be had in our ‘midnight’. These are precious conversations that transform our knowledge of God and deepen our relationships.
Indeed, what we do in our midnight experience is important not only for ourselves, but for helping others go through theirs. Don’t waste it binge-watching on Netflix! We have a tendency to tell people about outcomes and not the process, leaving others to chase outcomes with little endurance for the midnight process. Yet, being humble means letting one or two trusted people see our vulnerability when we are going through our midnight. Being loving means to not keep an uninvolved distance when someone invites us into their midnight. These are precious moments to witness together what God is about to do, and it is important to show up to support each other.
Find people who believe with you that there will be a breakthrough at midnight because Jesus is our living hope. Don’t let the enemy of your soul make you believe that you are all alone in an inner prison; that you are the only one awake worrying and anxious about tomorrow.
Worship God and watch your breakthrough. The outcome is a result of what you do in your midnight. Acts 16:35 tells us, “Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” In the end, Paul and Silas were not merely released but escorted out!
Know that your midnight process is a place for revelations, visions and teachings from God not just for yourself and your situation, but also for others as well.
MIDNIGHT IS ABOUT DESTINY
If the outcome was all that mattered, the prison break would be the pinnacle of Paul and Silas’ midnight experience. In the mayhem of it all, the jailer’s first thought was to kill himself before he was killed by the prisoners. But Paul and Silas saw a different scene playing out. As a result, they had a very different response in this situation.
“But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas; and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”” (Acts 16:28-30 NASB).
Let’s not forget that the jailer had also heard their midnight singing that replaced the usual growls and groans of angry prisoners. Instinctively, he recognized the intervention of God for Paul and Silas who then replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NASB).
In an amazing twist of fate, the jailer became the one who was saved, and the jailed became the rescuers!
“And they (Paul and Silas*) spoke the word of God to him (the jailer*) together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.” (Acts 16:32-34 NASB *inserted).
For Paul, Silas, the jailer and his entire household, their midnight experience culminated in a shared meal. That was earth-shaking because heaven had invaded their earthly existence!
The Bible also shows us other instances when midnight symbolized the cusp of destiny.
God carried out His vengeance against the Egyptians at midnight. “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” (Exodus 12:29-30).
Jesus emphasized spiritual readiness with the Parable of the Ten Virgins. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ (Matthew 25:6). It offers a lesson on the importance of being spiritually prepared to meet with Jesus – a responsibility that cannot be bought or borrowed. We meet our destiny by being prepared for the ‘suddenlies’ of life.
Finally, Paul was on an ill-fated and ill-advised journey to Rome to face Caesar for trial. Paul had warned everyone that it would be a disastrous and dangerous voyage (Acts 27:10). But an angel assured him that he and all others would reach shore alive (Acts 27:23-24). “On the fourteenth night … about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.” and “When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.” (Acts 27:24-27, Acts 27:39).
Midnight speaks of the closing of one reality and the beginning of another. It speaks of our hope in the Living God. Saying ‘tomorrow will be a better day’ is meaningless without recognizing that God who is with us today, will surely take care of our tomorrow. Therefore, take heart that your breakthrough at midnight is certainly worth waiting for!
