Dave’s Monday Blast – December 1, 2025

Welcome to December! The Christmas season is precious. It conjourns up so many wonderful memories and holds promises for the future. I also know that for some it is a difficult time of year, some memories are not so wonderful and future prospects are not so promising. It can be difficult to find God in hard places. I am reminded of this when I read a specific account in the life of the Apostle Paul found in the book of Acts.

I would love for each of you to read Acts 16 before you forge ahead with the content to follow: Acts 16 sets the stage for helping us all relate to those “midnight hour” experiences that are unfortunately a part of our lives.

Let’s unpack the reasons for those “midnight hour” experiences:

1. Spiritual Harassment (Acts 16:16 – 17)  The Church around the world has experienced persecution for centuries, but the Church in America is also experiencing persecution. And we are seemingly more aware of the reality of the Spiritual battle that is waging. As a believer, Satan lost the battle for your soul upon salvation, but he delights in creating environments that make you ineffectual.

2. Unjust Accusations (Acts 16:19) Whenever money is involved “all gloves are off” and the lies begin to flow. Remember that Scripture is clear. “The love of money is the root of all evil…” (1 Timothy 6:10). I always think of Jesus when unjust accusations are directed my way. But when this happens it certainly is hurtful, robs us of our joy, and stunts our effectiveness.

3. Physical Pain and Punishment (Acts 16:22 – 24) Human beings can “take” a great deal of the first two without “cracking”, but when physical pain is added and punishment is enacted, our faith is greatly challenged.

But we must remember that our response to this three-fold progression that leads us into a prison of anger, depression, despair, fear, etc; actually demonstrates how good and great our God is! God wants to unshackel you from that prison you consider yourself to be trapped in. He always shows up right on time, revealing Himself in hard places.

Next week I want to unpack a Biblical response to the “Midnight Hours” in our lives. If your God is small, your circumstances are huge. If your God is as big as your faith affirms, then your circumstances are not big at all.