Now when Herod was
about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the
prison. And behold an angel of the Lord
stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him,
saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands…..and he went out
and followed the angel. He did not know
that what was being done by the angel was real but thought he was seeing a
vision. When they had passed the first
and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It
opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street,
and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself he said, “Now I
am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod
and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
James was killed by
Herod and Peter was imprisoned. Peter
was rescued by the angel, but James died.
God allowed the one to be killed but sent help in miraculous ways, for
the other to be released. It is thus
in our lives too. For some, there’s
victory, success, triumph. But others
aren’t rescued. There’s not a happy outcome;
the marriage fails, the loved one dies, injustice prevails. Peter is saved, but James is lost. Does God favour the one and not the
other? No. It’s all about what is God’s plan; what He can see; what He wants. He had a good reason for rescuing Peter; Peter went on to build His church. But for James…. the end was also in God’s plan. It’s just that the outcome and the purpose
are hidden from us. As F B Meyer puts it
“eternity will explain the mysteries of time”.
Our course is to keep trusting.
To trust when there is no deliverance and when things don’t go our way,
builds faith which accesses the power of heaven; it builds faith which can break evil strongholds; it builds faith which can bring all the joy
and strength of God to the lives of others. To trust when there is no miracle, is
what following Jesus really means.
The other thing I
noticed about this passage, was that God waited until the last minute to rescue
Peter. It seems to be how He works, and
this is hard to understand. We wait for
rescue, or healing, or help, and it may come at the last minute and we wonder
why God waited. Or it may not come at all, at least not in ways we imagined.
Meanwhile, the church prayed for Peter’s release. Here is something we can understand. We can pray.
The verse says they offered “earnest” prayer. Within that word is a host of meaning. It bespeaks commitment, honesty,
steadfastness and purity. We should
confess our own sins to God, before we can ask and intercede on behalf of someone
else.
Then, the angel
comes and Peter thinks he’s dreaming. We
know the rest. He is brought forth to
light and freedom. So, this passage is
about miracles and answered prayers and happy endings. It’s about safe release and restoration to
friends and family. There is rejoicing.
But I can’t help
but think of James’ mother, keeping her
lonely watch at his tomb. Not for her the happy ending or the triumph
over Herod. Not for her the jubilant
homecoming. She treads a dark path of
sorrow.
But
God is in both circumstances. He rescues
the prisoner, and He also walks the path alongside the stricken mother. He knows the end from the beginning; he knows the number of our days and we can
trust Him for them. His plans cannot be
thwarted, though hell’s fury threatens.
He who knows all our days and all our plans, keeps them and us by His
power
No comments:
Post a Comment