Scripture
And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.” Acts 10:4-6

Observation
Why did Peter need a squad car to persuade him to preach at Cornelius’ house? The men that the commander sent that day to fetch Peter were very likely military and Roman. Their shadow in the doorway would have been foreboding. Peter would have felt the pressure.

Why did it take that much persuasion? Why did God use an angel to get Peter out of bed? It had worked for him when Peter was snoring in prison. Why didn’t God add a little more to the vision? A dream worked for Paul to go to Macedonia why not to get Peter to walk down the road to Caeserea?

Peter needed persuasion because God was about to do something that was out of his field of vision. Peter was a Jew pickled in the brine of pharisaism. He had never walked into the home of a non-Jew before. He had never touched bacon. He did everything his mother told him since he was a boy. God, however, was about to move the boundary markers of his life. What had been off limits was now going to become commonplace in his ministry. He would need persuasion to do something he had not done before.

Application
When God intends to do something new in our lives we should not be surprised when he does something to shake up our world view. If something comes to pass that is out of the ordinary that shakes up our perspective we should not be in a rush to return to normalcy. Surprising events could very well be an indication of fresh footsteps of the Lord.

Prayer
Father, when the unexpected comes knocking at my door, let me be discerning but not suspicious. Help me to follow without reluctance. Amen.