Read Exodus 40:34-38; Psalms 15; and Acts 12
S.O.A.P.
S: “And
suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared [standing beside him], and a light shone
in the place where he was. And the angel gently smote Peter on the side and
awakened him, saying, Get up quickly! And the chains fell off his hands.” (Acts
12:7)
O: A
lot happens in this chapter of Acts; James the brother of John is killed, Peter
was rescued from Herod, Herod is struck down and Paul and Barnabas return with
John Mark from their first missionary journey, but what mostly caught my
attention was the story of Peter.
One of the first things I notice is Peter
was sleeping. This probably catches my
eye because I do not always sleep well, but when I do I can really get into a
DEEP sleep. About fifteen years ago I
was a volunteer firefighter and EMT. I
loved everything about that job and I did not even mind getting woken up in the
night to go and help someone in need.
But one night I had my radio beside my bed and my husband tells me that
it went off and I did not hear the radio and the alert. He was down the hall in the office and came
and apparently woke me up and told me about the call. I said ok and apparently laid back down and
went back to sleep. The next morning
when he conveyed all of this to me I did not remember a thing.
Now that I’m older and have children I do
not unfortunately sleep quite as deeply!
But back to Peter …
Peter wasn’t up thinking about his problems
or worrying about his court date that was about to take place in the morning. He certainly could have been. One of his best friends, James, had been
killed and Peter was probably about to join him. James and Peter and John had been apart of
the inner-inner circle with Jesus. They
were the ones who got to go up and see the transfiguration. They were the ones closest to him in the
garden praying before the crucifixion.
But Peter was not worried, he was sleeping
so soundly and so deeply (even with the bright light of the angel right beside
Peter) that the angel had to “smack” him on the side (in his ribs) to get him
up. The verse in the KJV says after he
smote him that the angel “raised him up”.
Even after all of this Peter still thought
he was just dreaming (vs 9).
Finally after passing all the guards and
the city gates the angel leaves Peter and Peter for the first time realizes
what has been done for him and he proceeds to John Mark’s mother’s house where
a group was assembled in the night keeping vigil and praying for Peter. So Peter knocks and the girl who comes to the
door is so excited to hear Peter’s voice that she doesn’t even open the door,
she runs back to the group and tells them that Peter is here on the porch, but
they didn’t believe her. I do not know
if any of you have kids (or animals) that do this, but when the doorbell rings
in our house my kids (and dogs) go crazy.
The kids start jumping up and down screaming names of people they think
are at the door; they just get excited!
I imagine Rhoda did the same. She
heard the knock and got close enough to the door to hear Peter and began
jumping up and down, “Peter’s here, Peter’s here!”
Why is it when we pray, even in full faith,
that when the answer comes that we still doubt that it could be possible? Acts says Rhoda kept persisting until they finally
open the door and saw Peter with their own eyes and verse 16 says they were
AMAZED. That word in Greek is “existemi”
which means they were caught off guard, thrown into wonderment, astounded,
beside one’s self or literally “out of (ex) standing (histemi)”.
Does the way God answer your prayers ever
just “knock you off your feet”? There
are times I catch myself in the middle of something happening and I realize
that this was something I prayed for and just am amazed!
A:
Think back over times when God has answered some of your very specific
prayers and thank Him for that and be amazed at God all over again! Then continue in prayer for the things you
are still seeking Him for.
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