To Not Neglect the Journey
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
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 sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating. Acts 12:1-11
I didn’t fully believe my wife was with child and we would soon be parents until we arrived home with our son and left the support of the nursing staff. At times, I forget the reality of my marriage, even after nearly five years.
Until I dig through my baseball memorabilia, I find it difficult to believe I shook hands and spoke with Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, and Brooks Robinson. And, until I see my father’s scars or old photos of me wearing his wig, I forget he is a survivor of cancer. In life, there are many instances when our mind tends to travel a little slower than life’s reality. This is where we find Peter in today’s devotion.
Seized by King Herod during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Peter is chained and imprisoned in preparation for his trial. While sleeping, an angel of the Lord appears to Peter, wakes him, unchains him, and leads him past the prison guards and beyond the city gates. It is only after the city gates clang and the angel disappears that 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 12:11).
How often is this the case in our relationship with the Lord? We wait and wait and wait for a sign, we pray and pray and pray for deliverance, and all the while we miss the journey. We become so captivated and so focused upon the destination, the request, the desire, that we fail to experience the process of God arriving us. This day, take a moment to reflect on where you are in the journey. Is he waking you, freeing you, or leading you through the city. When awake for the journey, the arrival is all the more sweet.
