With a Subtitle: Peter’s rest in chains points believers to the deep peace found only in Christ.
A brief Excerpt: Acts 12:6 reveals Peter asleep in prison on the very night before his expected trial. This devotional encourages believers to seek the kind of peace that only Christ can give, even when life feels uncertain, confined, or heavy.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Acts 12:6, “Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.”
Background
On an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, a businessman from out of town is passing through Mayberry one Sunday morning on his way to Charlotte. Unfortunately, he experiences car troubles and needs a mechanic immediately, as he is anxious to be in the Queen City for his appointment first thing Monday morning. But Mayberry is not Charlotte. The options and availabilities on a Sunday consist of an unskilled, borderline competent fellow at the filling station who knows how to pump gas and put air in tires, and a town full of residents resting and relaxing on their front porches. No one is going to, or will even try to understand the need to, scuttle about and work on the Lord’s day. Eventually, though, the fellow at the station gets his cousin to come around and take a look at the expensive, flashy automobile, and he performs what turn out to be a couple of minor repairs, and the businessman and his car are finally cleared to leave. But Mr. Tucker, the harried traveler, has by now been wooed and enraptured by the peace and serenity of Mayberry and its gentle folk. So when his car is delivered and he starts it up, he pretends to hear something that doesn’t sound just right and suggests that he wait until morning to have the mechanic look it over. And this thrills Opie, Andy’s young son. Since Mr. Tucker will be staying the night with Andy and his family, acquiring Opie’s bedroom, Opie will now get to sleep on an ironing board between two chairs, which sounds horrible to Mr. Tucker. But Opie is ecstatic, getting to experience what he calls “adventure sleeping.”
Application
A thousand-dollar mattress can seem like an ironing board between two chairs, or chains and soldiers and prison walls, when your heart and mind are not clear. Carrying around guilt or shame or anger can render the night hopelessly restless. Hustling about nonstop with no time spent with Jesus can make the days long and the nights longer. A broken-down car, or some such setback, may be just what you need to experience rest and renewal. So go ahead and schedule the time, and prepare yourself for an adventure in sleeping that you may not have known for quite a spell.
Charge
As we seek Him today, let your day spent be a preparation for the peace of a restful night.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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