I was going through some of my writings ands found this, thought it would be a great thing to post today!

The Cricket Story

Last night at 3:45 am. I was up and super tired. I had woken up to the sound of the most eerie bullfrog which just so happened to be right outside my window. It almost sounded like a very sick owl. Just the pitch and tone of its croaking was scary enough to keep me awake. That… and the crickets in our garage all decided to sing super loud, and since, being in the garage, their songs were super amplified a few times. The crickets were in the garage, by the way, because my mom and my granddad (Papa) had gone fishing the day prior and had alot of them left over. Usually I am a very sound sleeper, and the sounds of outside normally help me to sleep, but this night I was awake.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I just listened to the sounds outside and inside. As I listened to the crickets singing their song. I started to think. They are all about to die and yet they are still singing this beautiful melody as its filling the night air with a beautiful tone. Well, In this case, the garage air. I also wondered, ‘can crickets hear themselves singing’? Maybe they heard their voices being amplified in the garage, and liked to believe that they were all taken to put on a concert in their first amphitheater.

The sounds of them singing in such harmony, though they knew they were all about to die, reminded me of something similar. And I might be making these crickets out to be super smart. As if they really knew they were about to die, but since I don’t know what goes on inside a crickets brain, I guess it’s safe to say they possible were. Anyways it reminded me of Paul and Silas in the Book of Acts when they were taken and thrown in prison. While bound in chains and probably in alot of pain– for they had just been beaten many times– instead of an eerie sound or cry of sorrow, the prison was filled with a different sound. A sound of singing— And not a sound of mournful singing, but a sound of JOYful singing.

Paul and Silas had been thrown in prison for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Which you can read about in Acts 16:16-24. Then they were taken and beaten— and when I say beaten, Acts says they were stripped and beaten with rods severely! After this their feet were fastened in stocks, inside an inner cell. These two people weren’t going anywhere. So not only were they fastened in stocks, but they were also placed in a cell that even if they could get out of their stocks and break through their cell walls, they were still in prison.

It seems to me, that Paul and Silas had every right to complain and definitely every right to groan. But this is not what we see happening here. Instead, they started to sing praises to God while all the other prisoners listened to them.

Can you imagine, being locked in a prison— and I’m sure these weren’t fancy prisons either— and all of the sudden, you hear Joyful singing coming from the cell beside you? Most people would think whoever was singing was crazy! Even maybe other Christians might find that crazy, but Paul and Silas didn’t let worldly sorrow cause them to forget about the Spiritual Joy they have in Christ! Their hearts and minds were set on things above and not on the things of this world. Paul said it best in His letter to the Church in Colossae. In Colossians 3:1-2 it reads, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” This is exactly what Paul and Silas were doing. If their hearts and minds were set on anything of this earth, then they would have not been singing praise.

So what Praises are you singing to God today? You may not be where you want to be on this earth, but are you taking the example of Paul in Silas to praise God in whatever comes your way? Though the worlds chains may bind us to where we cannot move, the spiritual chains that led us to death have been broken by Jesus Christ and so no matter what storm in life we are in, we can Praise God! I encourage you to read the rest of the story about Paul and Silas in Acts 16. For it did not end with them still bound in chains. The prison walls were shaken down, and the jailer and his entire house hold were led to Salvation.

Whatever you may be going through today, praising God in your trials can not only break spiritual chains, but God can use the earthly chains to bring Glory to Him. In this, we are not storing our treasures on earth below, were they can be destroyed, but we are storing up for us a Heavenly Treasure! In this alone, we can continue to praise God! That’s why it is important to FOCUS! Let us not set our hearts on the things of this earth, but on the things of God! In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us that where our treasure is stored (in heaven or on earth), there our heart will be also. So let us set our hearts on Christ and as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18— Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Now back to the crickets to end these thoughts. The crickets story did not end in death, but the very next day, my brother felt bad for the crickets and decided to dump them out. Now these crickets have their own story to tell… that is if crickets tell stories. So next time you hear the crickets chirping, let it remind you to praise God in whatever walk of life you are at! And now you know, as another Paul would say, The rest of the story.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” – Colossians 3:1-2

This following video is what Crickets sound like if you record them and slow them down: