The actions of Paul and Silas at the end of Acts 16 have always amazed me. For casting a demon out of a certain slave girl, Paul and Silas were beaten with many stripes (with rods) and were thrown into the inner prison of that Philippian jail, with their feet fastened in the stocks (16:22-24). They must have been in extreme pain, and they certainly had suffered an incredible miscarriage of justice. They were up all night long after the beating – first they were singing and praying, then they were preaching the gospel, finally they were baptizing the jailer and his household into Christ. The next day (perhaps without any sleep during the night) they were taken to the house of Lydia (the first convert in Philippi). Brethren, Paul and Silas need some encouragement! They need some attention and some TLC!
Instead, “Paul and Silas “entered the house [and] encouraged them and departed.” The very ones who needed the encouragement were the ones who were doing the encouraging! What does that teach us? Don’t wait to be encouraged! Go and be the encourager!