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Able To Do Above What We Think - Acts 12
Able To Do Above What We Think - Acts 12
As you read Acts 12, notice how God acts. We tend to call much of this ‘providential’ because it seems different than the ‘miracles, signs, and wonders’. In fact, some of it would be seen as coincidental and circumstantial. Peter’s chains ‘fall off’ (vs. 7). He is able to get up and leave without disturbing the two guards that he had been chained to. He is able to walk out of the prison, past both the first and second guard. The main gate to the prison area ‘opened by itself’. I think it is a bit of an understatement that there ‘was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter” (vs. 18).
Then there is the death of Herod. The ‘clinical’ diagnosis is that he died of an acute infestation of worms, a very painful death. Such could easily have been just a normal fact of life, but we are told that it was a judgment from God: the angel of the Lord struck him (vs. 23). Without such a revelation from God, how would we view the death of Herod?
Such activities do not appear to be normal for the ‘average disciple’. In fact, although the church had gathered and prayed fervently for Peter, they were surprised and amazed when Peter showed up at their door!
We greatly err when we try to put God in a box and anticipate how He governs His world. Most of His doings are not in the category of ‘miracle, sign, and wonder’, but they are the acts of God. He feeds the birds, clothes the flowers, sends the rain on the just and the unjust. We are thus encouraged to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us as His children (1Pet. 5:8).
At the same time, we see God exercising His right to NOT intervene! James is allowed to die. Stephen is allowed to die. The early disciples are persecuted, arrested, and put to death. Bad rulers such as Pilate are allowed to live and govern. The guards that were guarding Peter during this time were led away to execution (19).
Providence is NOT just about God acting to get us out of difficult situations, but also providing for us in such ways that we don’t get into them. He can provide that one does not have an accident as easily as provide for one to be rescued from the carnage of the wreck.
Can we determine when and where God has acted? Sometimes – like when it was the ‘miracle, sign, and wonder’ that was obvious that God intervened. Often not. So, what do we do? We walk by what God HAS revealed! We trust Him when we can not figure things out. We submit and obey even when we don’t understand how things will work out. We let God be God. Sometimes, we can look back on how things worked out and decide that God was working. Other times, we must live without specific ‘answers.’
Are you willing to walk by faith, trusting God even though things don’t work out as you wish or thought they would? If you were James’s mother, would you rejoice with Peter’s release while grieving your son’s martyrdom? Are you trusting God?
Hugh DeLong
