It is an incredible blessing to look back at the victories of yesterday. When God brings us through a difficult season, it is entirely right to celebrate His faithfulness and offer our deepest thanks. However, your victory yesterday was never intended to bring you to a place of permanent contentment in the arena of your faith.
Yesterday’s great faith is simply a foundation that God wants us to build upon. None of us should ever become completely satisfied with where our trust stands today. This season is entirely about strengthening our faith beyond what it was yesterday.
When we look back at Ephesians 3:20, we are reminded of the baseline promise for this journey: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” The New Living Translation makes it even clearer, stating that He is able to do “infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” If God is constantly moving in the realm of the infinite, then our faith must continue to expand to meet Him there.
Faith Does Not Stop at the Victory
The great danger of a breakthrough is the temptation to settle down and stop pressing forward. The heroes of scripture teach us that true faith is an ongoing journey, not a single destination.
- Moses: His faith did not stop at the banks of the Red Sea. He did not settle down after that great miracle. Instead, he kept right on believing God through the long, testing journey of the entire wilderness.
- Joseph: His faith did not stop at the pit, nor did it fail in the prison. He kept believing God all the way through his trials until he saw the complete restoration of his entire family.
- David: His faith did not stop in the field when he was conquering wild beasts, nor did it stop in the valley when he defeated a giant. He believed God for more all the way to the throne.
The prophets and apostles did not allow heavy criticism or dark jail cells to defeat their faith. As a matter of fact, opposition only ignited their faith further.
Worship in the Inner Dungeon
To see what it looks like to possess a faith that refuses to be suppressed by adversity, we have to look at the powerful reaction of Paul and Silas during a deeply challenging moment in their lives:
“A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” (Acts 16:22-25 NLT)
The biblical text emphasizes that they were cast into the “inner prison” or “inner dungeon.” This refers specifically to the deepest, most secure part of the jail. Historically and practically, this was likely a dark underground cell, completely isolated from the outer areas, with little to no light or ventilation.
If anyone on earth could have justified staying quiet and refusing to worship, it would have probably been Paul and Silas. They had been stripped, brutally beaten, fractured, and chained in pitch darkness.
But they did not allow adversity to lessen their faith. Instead, the pressure only magnified it.
A Faith That Cannot Be Whispered
Their faith was simply too great for them to whisper or mutter their praises to God. They did not let their environment dictate the volume of their worship. Even though they were locked away in an isolated, underground area, their voices were so resilient that they still could be heard throughout the entire prison. The other prisoners weren’t just passing time; they were actively listening.
What are you going through right now that you must intentionally push through?
Do not allow the darkness of your current circumstance or the weight of your trials to silence your praise. God is stretching us, challenging us, and wanting us to believe far beyond anything we have ever thought that He could do. Turn your trial into a stadium of worship, and watch how He moves.
