Peter's Miraculous Escape

The Lord is never short on his end of performing the miraculous. I was reminded of this fact while reading in Acts 12:1-18 about the Lord delivering Peter from prison. I would like to take some time and retell this account because as I was reading I was greatly humbled by the power of God’s hand in Peter’s life.

Peter’s Story

If we start at the beginning of this story we find that King Herod was out for vengeance for those who belonged to the church. It was his desire to bring much trouble and turmoil into their lives. He managed to have several captured and even had James killed. This only fueled the fire of his hatred for the followers of Christ even more, because when he saw that this act pleased the non-believing Jews he proceeded to hunt down and apprehend Peter as well. Herod made it a point to arrest Peter during the Feast of the Unleavened Bread because in doing so he knew that the city would be filled with more Jews than usual giving him the opportunity to “please” more of the unbelieving Jews. Herod also made it a point to have Peter well guarded. He ordered 16 guards for this one man. I find it rather ironic that Herod never took into account that Peter had an entire army of fellow believers earnestly seeking the face of God on Peter's behalf. The earnest prayers of the believers proved to be powerful and effective because the night before Peter was to stand trial, the Lord moved with a supernatural vengeance (Romans 12:19).

The Miraculous

I want us to get a clear understanding of the conditions Peter was under so that we all understand just how supernatural this situation really is. Here is Peter, being watched by 16 guards, sleeping between two soldiers, bound with chains, and more than likely naked. We know this because when the angel appeared he told Peter to put on his clothes and sandals. When the angel appeared several miraculous things happened that I want us to try to wrap our minds around. First of all, not one of the guards saw the angel, nor did they see the bright light that was shinning in the cell. The angel woke Peter from his sleep and his chains fell off. Let’s think about this, those chains falling to the ground surely would have made a loud crashing and clanging sound, yet no one heard a sound. Are we grasping the vastness of this miracle yet? Peter was told to get dressed, and where his clothes and sandals came from is yet another part of the supernatural realm because surely they were not lying next to him folded up in a nice neat stack! The miraculous only gets more intriguing from here because Peter and the angel simply walked out of the prison. The gates to the city opened by themselves, Peter did not forcefully open a thing. Can I just say, when God opens doors we don’t have to do a thing in the natural to open them? He does the opening, all we have to do is the same thing that Peter did, walk right through!

Let’s pause just for a moment to realize something here. No one saw them or heard them. Not one guard had any clue that any of this was transpiring right under their noses! I have to be honest here. If it were not for the fact that we serve a miracle working God and the fact that this is His character, His very nature, I would have read this account and doubted each and every word of it. Who escapes from prison with 16 guards standing over you every second of every day? How is it possible to walk out of a prison cell when you are bound by chains that you don’t have the key and fully clothed to boot? How do gates and strongholds swing wide open without us forcefully pushing our way through?

God’s character

This is just the kind of God we serve. A God who takes the impossible and makes it a reality. We serve a God who takes the prayers of the church and launches them into action, sending angels, breaking chains, and setting the captives free. Wow! How liberating this is to my mind! I am so thankful that our prayers are powerful and effective. We serve a truly miraculous God! It’s mind-boggling to think about such miracles and to try to comprehend the supernatural. This is where our humanness ends and our faith must begin because our human nature can not and will not ever be able to understand in full the miraculous workings of our God. We must simply learn to live a life of vigilant prayer and to stay consistent in our faith in the character of our God. He is never going to let us down. Things might not go the way we think they should, but he is still the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!

Lord, thank you for the supernatural wonder-working power that is in your hands. We are so blessed to serve a God who is characterized by manifesting the impossible. We know that if you can break off the chains, open the prison doors and set the captives free in Peter’s life, then you will do the same for us as well. You have not stopped working out the miraculous in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We are so thankful for the biggest and most powerful supernatural event that can ever take place in the life of a human, salvation. Help us to seek your face in prayer and walk through the open doors that you swing wide open for us. Thank you for the miracles you show us each and every day.