April 8, 2010 (Acts 11-14)

God has a plan for everything. When the early church was being persecuted, they fled. But as they fled, they 'infiltrated' places far from Jerusalem, thereby telling those in far away cities of Jesus. Had there been no persecution, they may have been content to just 'hang around and enjoy the blessings of God', being content in that. God has a plan and purpose in suffering. I think He knows that being who we are, if we are 'content and happy' we will soon forget Him. Sometimes it's only as we realize our need of Him, sadly, that we seek Him.

So about this time, King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers. He had the apostle James killed by the sword. He arrested Peter during the Passover celebration and imprisoned him under the guard of 16 soldiers. He was going to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. But:

^{Acts 12:5} But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

This little verse and the story following it are very convicting. I think sometimes we pray, but as we pray, we think our prayers are useless. We really don't believe that God hears or will answer us. We think our problems are 'too big' for Him. Read below what happened:

⁶ 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. ⁷ 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. ⁸ 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.

⁹ So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. ¹⁰ They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹ Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. ¹³ He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. ¹⁷ He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place.

God is not limited by physical limitations. He kept the guards asleep while he freed Peter. It says 'the chains fell off'. I don't think that could have happened without making some 'clanking' noises. The iron gate opened on it's own. I think something that wasn't specifed, was that the iron gate was locked. I can't imagine a prison yard with a gate that wasn't locked. He can do anything He wants. In just a quick search (I have a feeling there are many more instances of this) we see this:Genesis 18:14
Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Jeremiah 32:27
“I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?

God wants us to live 'supernaturally' here on earth. He wants to bring glory to His name by His children trusting Him to do the miraculous. God help me to 'pray believing'.