Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” Acts 12:8-11
A Supernatural Solution To An Impossible Situation
Herod was an evil king. One day he decided he wanted to persecute some members of the early church, so he murdered James, John’s brother. It made his popularity ratings skyrocket among the Jews, so he arrested Peter. This was happening during Passover week. He put four squads of four soldiers each – 16 soldiers total - guarding Peter’s cell. Peter was even shackled to two soldiers, one on each side. After Passover Herod was planning a public lynching and he wanted to make sure nothing happened to this prisoner.
Peter slept very well that night, despite his circumstances. He woke suddenly to a bright light and an angel by his side. Peter thought he was dreaming but the angel shook him and told him “Hurry!” The handcuffs fell off Peter’s wrists and the angel told him to get dressed and put on his shoes because they needed to get out of there. Peter followed him, still not believing any of this was really happening.
They passed the sleeping soldiers guarding him and went through the iron gate that led into the city as it swung open before them. Soon the angel left him, and Peter realized he was not dreaming. He realized he had literally been rescued from the clutches of death. He went to his friends who had been praying for him and they got so excited at the sound of his voice that they forgot to open the door and let him in! Finally, they opened the door and saw that it was really him and rejoiced.
Of course, the next morning at the jail there was chaos. The were all trying to figure out what happened to Peter. When Herod sent for him and the soldiers could not explain what had happened or where he was, heads rolled – literally. Herod ordered the execution of all of them.
What an amazing end to an incredibly impossibly situation. Many of us feel like we live in a jail cell, chained to a guard on either side, with fourteen more keeping us where we are – stuck in a prison. That prison could be debt, addiction, illness, adultery, and many more things. God is more powerful than all the guards, all the chains, and the determination of the enemy to hold us down. He is more powerful than all our impossible situations. He does not leave us in the prison cell alone.
The reason we feel so hopeless is because we seek earthly solutions to our problems when there is no earthly way to fix them. God is our only hope. He offers us a Supernatural Solution to our Impossible Situations. God is so good. He moves in ways we are not prepared to see. I doubt Peter was praying for an angel to come and deliver him from that jail cell but that was God’s solution. We usually don’t give God enough credit! We think and pray small prayers to a small God, but we have a big God, and His solutions are more than we can fathom.
You may have been in an impossible situation for a long, long, time. You have been believing and praying and nothing has happened, and you are ready to give up hope. Don’t stop praying and believing. Pray big prayers to your big God. Don’t give up hope. He does see you. He does hear you. He is with you. He will answer in His supernatural way.
