“Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up…” Acts 12:7
When I read this I had to chuckle because I can relate. I have often said God has a velvet covered two by four with my name on it. Peter was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. He was so sound asleep he did not see the light radiating in the dark cell. The angel had to poke him pretty hard to get him to wake up and realize that God was releasing his chains, opening the cell door and rescuing him from danger.
As I said, I can relate to this. Can you? There have been times when I have “been asleep” when it comes to snares in my life path. God, in His mercy, whacked me up the side of the head in order to get me to change directions, or listen to His instructions ,as Peter did to the angel’s, or just to plain stop in my tracks. Sometimes he opens doors, often times He closes them. The angel told Peter to wrap in his cloak and follow him. The cloak acted as a protection. The Word of God is our protection- it cloaks us in rightousness and thwarts off attacks of evil.
Do you need a wake up call? Is God tapping on your shoulder and telling you to change course so you can get out of the chains that have you bound? Maybe it is anger, or an addiction, or jealousy, or a slip in your faith. God is in the business of freeing those ensalved by sin. His Son did that for us on the Cross and continues to do so today and will again tomorrow. That is our cloak- our cover and means of escape. May your prison doors open wide and your chains drop to the ground. Then run to Jesus.
Dearest Lord, You are our protection in times of trouble. You set your children free from sin and cloak us in Your mercy through Your Word. Let us always hear Your voice and obey when You come to steer us from evil or get us out of the prison that keeps us from doing Your Will. Amen
“Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I have no doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me’…” Acts 12:11a
