December 17th

Jailed and Rescued

          The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.  Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.  The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”  Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.  After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him.  Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Acts 12:6-11

           

            Peter was in an impossible situation.  He was chained between two guards behind a locked door with more guards and locked gates outside.  King Herod was determined that his prize would not escape his execution the next day.  But God decided that Peter was not done with this life yet.  He sent an angel that opened Peter’s chains and led him through the maze of guards and gates to freedom.  Peter himself thought he was just dreaming until he came to his senses and reunited with his friends and family who had been praying for him throughout the night.

            It is a great story.  God’s power intruding on history to miraculously bring freedom to the faithful and restoration to the people of God.  Christmas is a great story.  Easter is a great story.  The numerous accounts of Jesus’ healings are great stories…and they all leave me with so many questions.  Why does God intervene sometimes and not others?  Just before this passage, the apostle James was killed by Herod.  Why did God save Peter but not James?  Why did God allow a prominent local missionary to recently pass away from cancer?  Why does God heal some children but not intervene with others?  Why is infant mortality even a thing?

            We don’t know the answers and all that scripture does is point us to hope.  We hope that God is good.  We hope that eternity is filled with wholeness and joy and life.  We hope that God is big enough to handle our situations and that He cares enough to be with us.  We hope that there is a purpose to our suffering and we hope that God will deliver us when we need Him.  We hope…but we don’t know.

            It is the not knowing that makes it so scary.  What if tomorrow brings heartache that we can’t handle?  What if this faith thing is a waste of time?  What if we are parenting all wrong? What if…?

            We won’t know until we get there.  We won’t know what is written in the next chapter of our lives until we turn the page.  Until we arrive, it is just speculation and we can choose to either feed our hope or feed our fear.  Those are the two options when we look ahead to the unknown:  faith or fear.  We get to choose, which is odd for us because we rarely get to choose.  We react.  We respond.  We are used to rolling with the punches and figuring out what is best for our circumstances.

            In this case, we get to choose.  We have to choose.  Do we look ahead with hope or do we look ahead with fear?  What will inform how you step into the unknown?

           

A moment to reflect:

What are the big unknowns of your life at the moment?  How can you choose hope in those?