Over the past couple of months, we have posted a couple of blogs by Erika DeWaard aka Farmer Girl. If you have not yet discovered the writings of this young lady, you have missed a blessing. God is using her pen and ink to display the full glory of His story. Gifted. True to scripture. Wisdom waaaaaaay beyond her years. Here’s one example of her word picture offerings. She takes you down so deeply into the Word that you will need to come up for air several times. Deb
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Acts 12 is one of those chapters that reminds me that if I had been one of the early Christians, I probably would have been just as confused as everyone else.
The chapter opens with King Herod deciding that persecuting Christians is politically advantageous. James, the brother of John and one of Jesus’ closest disciples, is arrested and executed. Let that sink in for a moment. This is not some random believer whose name appears once and disappears. This is James. One of the men who walked with Jesus. One of the men who saw miracles with his own eyes. One of the “sons of thunder.” One of the disciples who was present at the Transfiguration. Yet Acts records his death in a single verse.
If I were writing the story, I would probably want more details. I’d want an explanation. I’d want God to tell me exactly why James died while others lived. Instead, Luke simply moves on because the story is not ultimately about James. The story is about what God is doing.
Herod notices that executing James made him popular, so naturally, he decides to arrest Peter next. Apparently, politicians have not changed much in two thousand years. If something gets applause from the crowd, there is always a temptation to do more of it.
Peter is thrown into prison and guarded by multiple squads of soldiers. Humanly speaking, the situation looks hopeless. James is already dead. Peter is next. The church is facing increasing persecution. If you were living through those events, this would not feel like a victorious chapter. It would feel like the beginning of the end.
Yet while Peter sits in prison, the church prays.
I love that detail because prayer was not their backup plan. It was not the thing they did after all the useful options had failed. It was the useful option. They could not overpower Herod. They could not storm the prison. They could not hire better lawyers. All they could do was pray.
Meanwhile, Peter is sleeping.
Again, I love this detail.
Peter is scheduled to be brought out for trial the next day, and there is a very real possibility that he will be executed just like James. Yet when the angel arrives, Peter is sleeping so soundly that the angel has to hit him to wake him up.
That is an impressive level of trust.
If I have to wake up early for something important, I check the alarm three times before bed. Then I wake up at midnight to make sure the alarm still exists. Then I wake up again at two o’clock to verify that time itself has not somehow stopped. Peter is facing possible execution and apparently decided this was an excellent opportunity for a nap.
The angel tells him to get up. The chains fall off. The guards remain unaware. The prison doors open one after another. Peter follows along thinking the entire thing is a vision. Only when he is standing outside in the cool night air does he realize this is actually happening.
So where does he go?
To a prayer meeting.
Naturally.
The believers are gathered together, praying for Peter’s release, when Peter starts knocking at the door. A servant girl named Rhoda hears his voice, becomes so excited that she forgets the entire purpose of answering a door, leaves Peter standing outside, and runs back to tell everyone.
Peter is still knocking.
The people inside tell her she must be mistaken.
This may be one of the most human moments in the entire Bible.
They are literally praying for Peter’s release while simultaneously arguing that Peter cannot possibly have been released.
Before we’re too hard on them, I suspect many of us have done the same thing. We pray for God to provide and then stare at the answer in disbelief when it arrives. We ask Him to work and then act surprised when He does.
Eventually, they open the door, and there stands Peter, very much alive and probably wondering how long a man is expected to knock before someone lets him in.
The chapter ends with another dramatic reversal. Herod, who looked so powerful at the beginning of the story, accepts praise that belongs to God and is struck down. The king, who seemed unstoppable, discovers that there is a significant difference between being powerful and being sovereign.
Then Luke closes the chapter with a simple statement: “But the word of God increased and multiplied.”
That is really the entire point.
James dies. Peter lives. The church prays. An angel appears. Rhoda forgets how doors work. Herod falls. The Gospel keeps advancing.
Acts 12 reminds us that God is still in control when we understand what He is doing and when we do not. It reminds us that sometimes prayers are answered exactly as we hope, and sometimes the answers look very different than we expected. Most of all, it reminds us that kings come and go, governments rise and fall, prisons are built and torn down, but the Word of God keeps moving forward.
Two thousand years later, we are still reading about it.
And somewhere in Heaven, I have a feeling Rhoda is still famous for forgetting to open the door.
Farmer Girl
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