Scripture

The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. Acts 12:7-8

Observation

Your life is not a closed system. Doors can open. Things can change. Though you are trapped on the inside God is bounding on the outside. Nothing can stop him from bursting in.

Rusty words are strewn through Peter’s prison story: “chains”, “cell”, and “gate”. Each is a cast iron weight suffocating hope. The jail door of disappointment can slam on our expectations. We think life is a closed system. We can’t get out of prison because prison has crept into us.

It took awhile for Christians in this story to wake up to what God was doing. Peter had to be poked by an angel. A minimum-wage housemaid didn’t even recognize a miracle standing at her front door. I’m sure glad that Peter and Rhoda are in this story. They make me feel more at ease with a God who can pop up in the most unlikely places. If Peter and Rhoda were startled and sluggish then I will not be disappointed by my own drowsy response when the Lord slips through locked doors to save me.

The comforting picture in this story is the split second before the miracle. CEO Peter was snuggled up with his pillow snoozing away. There is something profound in this picture of Peter getting a good 40 winks before his court trial. His slumber proved his faith in Jesus’ promise given just a few months before that Peter would not die until he was an old man. Peter slept because he knew that he had many days yet to live.

Application:

We need to learn to rest in our confinement, not always looking for a way out, and instead to go to sleep knowing that nothing can lock God out. Sure we can stand on God’s promises but it doesn’t hurt to sleep on them too.

What was the promise God made last to you? Is that your comfort? Do you think of your life like a terrarium, all sealed with no way in? Do you hear the footsteps of God outside your door? These are questions I ask myself. I think I hear someone knocking. Excuse me while I answer my door.

Prayer

Father, I know you are out there. I’m listening for your knock. Amen.